AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


OF 


PETER  CARTWRIGRT, 


THE  BACKWOODS  PREACHER. 


EDITED    BT 


W.  P.  STRICKLAND. 


CINCINNATI: 

CRANSTON  AND  CURTS. 

NEW  YORK: 
HUNT  AND  EATON. 


PEEFACE. 


FOB  many  years  past,  and  especially  during 
the  last  ten  or  twelve,  I  have  been  almost  un- 
ceasingly importuned  to  write  out  a  history  of 
my  life,  as  one  among  the  oldest  Methodist  trav- 
eling preachers  west  of  the  mountains.  This 
would  necessarily  connect  with  it  a  history  of 
the  rise  and  progress  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church  in  the  great  valley  of  the  Missis- 
sippi. And  surely  a  work  of  this  kind,  written 
by  a  competent  historiographer,  who  had  kept 
himself  posted,  or  had  kept  a  journal  of  his  life, 
and  the  many  thrilling  incidents  connected  with 
the  history  of  the  Church,  or  the  life  of  a  pioneer 
traveling  preacher,  could  not  fail  to  interest  the 
Church  and  many  of  her  friends,  and  would  rescue 
from  oblivion  many,  very  many  incidents  that  are 
now  lost,  and  gone  forever  beyond  the  reach  of  the 
historian's  pen. 

I  have  regretted  through  life  that  some  of  my 
cotemporaries,  who  were  much  better  qualified  for 


4  PREFACE. 

the  task  than  I  am,  did  not  write  out  such  a 
work  as  is  contemplated  in  this  imperfect  skotch. 
Had  I  seriously  thought  of  sending  such  a  work 
into  the  world,  I  should  have  tried  hard  to  have 
been  better  prepared.  But  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  many  of  us  early  traveling  preachers, 
who  entered  the  vast  wilderness  of  the  west  at 
an  early  day,  had  little  or  no  education;  no  books, 
and  no  time  to  read  or  study  them  if  we  could 
have  had  them.  We  had  no  colleges,  nor  even  u 
respectable  common  school,  within  hundreds  of 
miles  of  us.  Old  Dyke  or  Dilworth  was  our  spell- 
ing book;  and  what  little  we  did  learn,  as  we  grew 
up,  and  the  means  of  education  increased  among 
us,  we  found,  to  our  hearts'  content,  that  we  had 
to  unlearn,  and  this  was  the  hardest  work  of  all. 

And  now  that  I  am  old  and  well  stricken  in 
years,  it  has  been,  and  is,  my  abiding  conviction, 
that 'I  can  not  write  a  book  that  will  be  respect- 
able, or  one  that  will  be  worth  reading;  but  I  have 
reluctantly  yielded  to  the  many  solicitations  of  my 
friends,  and  I  am  conscious  that  there  .must  be 
many  imperfections  and  inaccuracies  in  the  work. 
I  have  no  books  to  guide  me;  my  memory  is 
greatly  at  fault;  ten  thousand  interesting  facts 
have  escaped  my  recollection;  names  and  places 
have  passed  from  me  which  can  not  be  recalled ; 
ami  T  fear  that  many  scenes  and  incidents,  as  they 


PREFACE.  3 

now  occur  to  my  recollection,  will  be  added  to,  or 
diminished  from. 

Moreover,  as  I  well  understand  that  I  have 
been  considered  constitutionally  an  eccentric  min- 
ister, thousands  of  the  thrilling  incidents  that 
h?ve  gained  publicity,  and  have  been  attributed 
to  me,  when  they  are  not  found  in  my  book  will 
create  disappointment.  But  I  trust  their  place 
will  be  supplied  by  a  true  version;  and  though 
some  of  them  may  not  be  as  marvelous,  may 
nevertheless  be  quite  as  interesting.  I  have  many 
to  record  that  have  not  seen  the  light,  which  will 
be  quite  as  thrilling  as  any  that  have  been  nar- 
rated, and  their  truthfulness  will  make  them 
more  so. 

Some  of  our  beloved  bishops,  book  agents, 
editors,  and  old  men,  preachers  and  private  mem- 
bers, as  well  as  a  host  of  our  young,  strong  men 
and  ministers,  who  are  now  actively  engaged  in 
building  up  the  Church,  have  urged  me  to  under- 
take this  sketch  of  my  life,  and  I  have  not  felt  at 
liberty  to  decline,  but  send  it  out  with  all  its  im- 
perfections, hoping  that  it  may  in  some  way,  and 
to  some  extent,  conduce  to  the  interests  of  the 
Redeemer's  kingdom,  and  do  more  than  merely 
gratify  an  idle  curiosity,  or  offend  the  fastidious 
taste  of  some  of  our  present  more  highly-favored 
and  better  educated  ministers,  who  enjoy  the  many 


6  P  K  E  F  A  C  E  . 

glorious  advantages  of  books,  a  better  education, 
and  improved  state  of  society,  from  which  we,  as 
early  pioneers,  were  almost  wholly  excluded. 

Right  here  I  wish  to  say — I  hope  without  the 
Charge  of  egotism — when  I  consider  the  insur- 
mountable disadvantages  and  difficulties  that  the 
early  pioneer  Methodist  preachers  labored  under 
in  spreading  the  Gospel  in  these  western  wilds  in 
the  great  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  and  contrast 
the  disabilities  which  surrounded  them  on  every 
hand,  with  the  glorious  human  advantages  that 
are  enjoyed  by  their  present  successors,  it  is  con- 
foundingly  miraculous  to  me  that  our  modern 
preachers  can  not  preach  better,  and  do  more  good 
than  they  do.  Many  nights,  in  early  times,  the 
itinerant  had  to  camp  out,  without  (ire  or  food  for 
man  or  beast.  Our  pocket  Bible,  Hymn-Book,  and 
Discipline  constituted  our  library.  It  is  true  we 
could  not,  many  of  us,  conjugate  a  verb  or  parse  a 
sentence,  and  murdered  the  king's  English  almost 
every  lick.  But  there  was  a  Divine  unction  at- 
tended the  word  preached,  and  thousands  fell  under 
the  mighty  power  of  God,  and  thus  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  was  planted  firmly  in  this  west- 
ern wilderness,  and  many  glorious  signs  have  fol- 
lowed, and  will  follow,  to  the  end  of  time. 

I  will  here  state,  that,  at  an  early  period  of  my- 
ministry,  1  commenced  keeping  a  journal,  and 


PREFACE.  T 

kept  it  up  for  several  years,  till  at  length  several 
of  our  early  missionaries  to  the  Natchez  country 
returned,  and  many  of  them,  I  found,  were  keeping 
a  journal  of  their  lives  and  labors,  and  it  seemed 
to  me  we  were  outdoing  the  thing,  and  under  this 
conviction  I  threw  my  manuscript  journals  to  the 
moles  and  bats.  This  act  of  niy  life  I  have  deeply 
regretted,  for  if  I  had  persisted  in  journalizing,  1 
could  now  avail  myself  of  many  interesting  facts, 
dates,  names,  and  circumstances  that  would  greatly 
aid  me  in  my  sketch. 

1  know  it  is  impossible  for  my  friends  to  realize 
the  embarrassments  I  labor  under,  for  the  want  of 
some  safe  guide  to  my  failing  and  treacherous 
memory.  I  therefore  ask  great  indulgence  from 
any  and  .ill  who  may  chance  to  read  this  imperfect 
sketch,  and  pray  that  our  kind  Savior  may  for- 
give any  inaccuracies  or  errors  that  it  may  contain. 
If  I  had  my  ministerial  life  to  live  over  again,  my 
present  conviction  is  that  I  would  scrupulously 
keep  a  journal  But  this  can  not  be;  therefore  I 
must  submit 

And  now,  in  the  conclusion  of  this  introduction, 
I  will  say,  I  ask  forgiveness  of  God  for  all  the 
errors  of  this  work,  and  all  the  errors  of  my  whole 
life,  especially  of  my  ministerial  life.  I  also  ask 
for  the  forgiveness  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  as  one  of  her  unworthy  ministers,  for  any 


8  PREFACE. 

wrongs  I  may  have  done  to  her,  or  to  the  world. 
I  also  most  sincerely  ask  the  prayers  of  the  Chuivh, 
that  while  my  sun  is  fast  declining,  arid  must  soon 
set  to  rise  on  earth  no  more,  I  may  have  a  peace- 
ful ana  happy  end,  and  that  I  may  meet  any  that 
I  may  have  been  the  instrument  of  doing  good  to, 
with  all  my  dear  brethren,  safe  in  heaven,  to  praise 
God  together  forever.  Amen. 

PETER  CARTWBIGIIT. 

PLEASANT  PLAINS,  ILL.,  1856. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   I 

His  B»  h— Parents  remove  to  Kentucky— Dangers  and  Difficulties  of  the  Jour- 
nPy — Halt  at  Camp  Pi-feat — His  Father  shoots  an  Indian — Escape  of  a  White 
Man  from  the  Indians — His  Companions  shot — Arrival  at  Crab  Orchard — 
Massacre  of  seven  Families — Pursuit  of  the  Indians — Their  Slaughter — Perils 
of  the  Early  Settlers— Fertility  and  Resources  of  the  Country Page  17 

CHAPTER   II. 

Settlement  in  Lincoln's  county,  Ry.— Methodist  Ministers— Parents  remove  to 
Logan  county,  Ky.— Rogues'  Harbor— The  "  Regulators"— Native  Luxuries- 
Saltpeter  Caves— Advantages  of  Navigation— Falls  into  Bad  Habits— Ie  sent  to 
School— Makes  little  Progress— Fate  of  his  Teacher 23 

CHAPTER   III. 

Increase  of  Population— Danger  of  Extremes  in  Doctrine— Sacramental  Meet 
ing— Great  Revival— First  Camp  Meeting— Presbyterians  censured  for  en 
gaging  in  it— Origin  of  the  "New  Lights  "—Their  Leaders— "  Republican 
Methodists  "—The  Shakers— Want  of  Ministers  severely  felt 29 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Goes  to  a  Dance— Is  convicted— Obliged  to  leave  his  Business— Thought  to  he 
Insane— His  Convictions  are  Strengthened— Attends  a  Sacramental  Meeting, 
and  is  Converted — Joins  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church — Organization  of  the 
Western  conference  by  Bishop  Asbury — Early  Western  Itinerants — First  Se- 
cession—Wilson Lee— The  Pet  Lamb— Taking  up  the  Cross— Happy  Conver- 
sion—Mr.  Lee's  Death :'A 

CHAPTER    V. 

Wide-spread  Revival  In  the  West— Rise  of  Camp  Meetings— Methodist*  and 
Presbyterians  unite  in  the  Work — Camp-ground  Accommodations — Great  Ex- 
travagances among  the  Presbyterians — The  Presbytery  grant  Licenses  con- 
trary to  the  "Confession  of  Faith  " — Some  are  censured,  some  susjx-nded,  and 
others  expelled— They  pioposo  to  join  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church— Pro- 
posal declined — Formation  of  the  "Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church" — 
Splitting  the  Difference  —  The  Jerks  —  Horsewhipping  escaped  —  Drendful 
Death— Fatal  Delusions— Trouble  with  the  Shakers— Debates  with  th««v- 
JJumbers  received  into  the  Church— Organizes  a  Circuit 4ft 

9 


10  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

Alt-cI*  numerous  Camp  Meetings— Opposers  overcome— Meets  Bishop  Anbuiy- 
Rnccives  an  Exhorter's  License— Removes  to  Lewiston  county,  111.— Enters  an 
Acalemy — Exhorts  large  Congregations  and  gathers  a  Class — Suffers  Perse- 
cution—Ducks his  Tormentors — Leaves  School — Forms  a  Circuit — Good  Suc- 
cess—Gives up  the  World— Travels  Red  River  circuit— First  Sermon~Itf 
Effect— Transferred  to  Waynesville  circuit— Revival  at  Stockton  Valley— Bap- 
tist Proselyters — They  entice  his  Converts — His  Scheme  to  recover  them — la 
crowned  with  Success — Organizes  a  Society — Increase  in  the  Western  confer- 
ence— Is  received  into  the  Traveling  Connection Pago  56 

CHAPTER    VII. 

Conference  of  1801— Travels  Salt  River  and  Shelbyvillo  circuits— Simplicity  in 
Dress  of  early  Methodists— Studies  with  Mr.  M'Kendree— Profits  much  by  his 
Instructions— Duties  of  Presiding  Elders— Pioneer  Methodist  Preachers— An 
educated  Ministry — Meets  one  of  the  "Regular  Graduates" — Confounds 
him — A  striking  Illustration — Danger  of  Congregationalism  in  the  Church — 
Secular  Offices  should  be  filled  by  Laymen— Evil  Effects  of  the  present  Sys- 
tem—Con  feienco  of  1805— William  M'Kendree  elected  President 74 

CHAPTER    VIII. 

Appointment  to  Scioto  circuit — Favored  with  good  Superintendents — A  drunken 
Minister — Strange  Apology — Powerful  Awakenings — Afflicting  Dispensation — 
Father  Teel — His  Eccentricity  cured — Largo  Camp  Meeting — The  Rowdies 
troublesome — A  drunken  Magistrate — A  knock-down  Argument — The  Meeting 
progresses — Cheering  Results — James  Axley — Scene  at  the  Governor's  Table — 
A  useful  Preacher 84 

CHAPTER    IX. 

Starts  for  the  Conference  of  1806— Increase  of  Membership— A  new  District- 
Meager  Salary — Is  ordained  Deacon  by  Bishop  Asbury — Sent  to  Marietta  cir- 
cuit— A  Colony  of  Yankees — Hard  Appointment — The  Halcyon  Church — 
Brimstone  Angels— A  vile  Impostor— Deluded  Fanatics— Want  of  an  Outfit— 
Goes  Home— Timely  Assistance— A  Friend  in  Need— A  Generous  Landlord- 
Singular  Conversion— Arrives  at  Home— New  Outfit— Starts  afresh— Con  fer- 
ence  of  1807 — Appointed  to  Barren  circuit — Dying  Convert — A  knotty  Case — 
Affecting  Scene— Methodism  obtains  a  Footing 9F 

CHAPTER    X. 

Poverty  of  Preachers— Enters  .ito  Matrimony— Conference  of  1808— Ordained 
Elder  by  Bishop  M'Kendr.i— Father's  Death— Has  leave  of  A  IM-nee  fora 
Time— Returns  to  the  Regul  »r  Work  at  the  Conference  of  1809— Appointed  to 
Livingston  circuit— Holdr  a  Camp  Meeting— Good  Results— A  bigoted 
"iMinker" — Turtm  Methof  .rft — P.onsilit  by  the  Baptists — Tries  the  Shakers— 
Objects  to  bun!  Work— Resorts  to  the  New  Lights— Lust  Session  of  the  Wes» 
eru  conference  in  1811— Increase  of  Membership— First  delegated  General 
conference  -Division  of  the  Western  cot  Vrence— Goeg  to  Christian  circuit, 


COXTFXTS.  11 

Tennessee  conference— Glorious  Revivals— Overcomes  Prejudice— New  Ap 
p-lLtnicul— Another  Camp  Mating— A  Methodist  Fit— Preaches  at  Ked 
Kivrr— Op|>oaed  by  a  Presbyterian  Minister— Results  of  Opposition— Forma  • 
Society „..._„ .  Page  111 

CHAPTER    XI. 

<in>t  Session  of  TVr.nessee  conference  in  1812— Made  Presiding  Elder  by  BUh»p 
Asbury— Ol.jects  to  taking  the  Office  —Travels  Wabasb  district— Holds  several 
Camp  Meetings— Agitation  on  the  Slavery  Question— Testimony  of  the  Church 
against  it— Harm  done  by  Rabid  Abolitionists-  Breckenridge  Camp  Meet 
Ing— An  impwlent  Dandy— Threat  of  a  Horsewhipping— Dandy  escapes  with 
•  Ducking— Decrease  of  Membership  at  conference  of  1813— Came*  thereof— 
Returned  to  Green  Hirer,  formerly  Wabash  district -Sew  Fields  of  Labor— 
A  Baptist  Goliath— Slander  on  the  Mfthodi.ns— Vulgar  Comparisona—Goliath 
Defeated-I*  blown  to  Se*er—\  Whisky-drinking  Preacher— Charging  fall 
Price, __ __ _ _ _..  -,,,.,,,.-., -,-„  136 

CHAPTER    XII. 

fennessee  conference  of  1814 — Bishops  Asbary  and  M'Kendree — Their  Mini* 
terial  Labors— Privations  of  the  Preachers— A  Fatted  Calf— Camp  Meeting  at 
Christian  circuit— Disturbance  from  Rowdies— A  stroke  of  Policy— A  Dis- 
turber reached — Another  consed,  and  afterward  converted — The  String  of 
Frogs-An  enraged  Father— Evil  Surmising*— His  Conviction  and  Conver- 
•ion— A  (ingnlar  Dream— Its  Falfillment-Baptist  Proselyter— Extended 
Argument— An  unanswerable  Question 13> 

CHAPTER   XIII. 

Bishop  Asbnry  attends  the  Tennessee  conference  of  ISIS— HU  feeble  Heatth- 
Electiou  of  Delegates  to  General  conference— The  Bishop's  Advice  to  the«u— 
His  Endeavon>  to  reach  the  General  conference— Increarinj 


and  Burial— Reinterment—  Epitaph— The  Bishop's  Talents—  His  Knowledge 
of  Character-General  conference  of  1816— Difficulties  of  Travel— Election  ol 
Bishops  George  and  Roberts— A  Tear  of  Prosperity— Introduction  of  Pro- 
slavery  Feeling  into  the  Church— Injurious  Effects— Clamor,  for  Lay  Rep 
mentation  first  heard— They  increase  at  the  conference  of  1830-Other  Radi 
eal  Measures  then  brought  forward— Presiding  Elders  to  be  Elected— An 
entering  Wedge— Bishop  Boole's  Opposition— Suspension  of  the  Kactir. 
Rule— Harmony  destroyed  in  the  Church— Expulsion  of  the  Radicals— Peac* 
restored— Formation  of  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church— Schisms  originate 
among  the  Ministers— Examples  cited— Wretched  Policy  of  the  Chorea  Sooth 
on  Slavery..... „„ 1» 

CHAPTER    XIV. 

Session),  of  Western  conferences  for  181&-Is  appointed  to  Christian  cirealt- 
New  cnnC-rencr  formed— Introduction  of  Methodism  into  Indiana  and  Iltt- 
oo»—  Increase  of  Members  and  Ministers— Glorious  Revivals— Preaches  to 
SlmVBS-X umbers  cunvcrtrd— \Vaut  of  faithful  Preachers  among  them- <iuar- 
terag-  oot  twenty-five  Cents— Hospital  le  Farmer— Sotb:ng  ,.«t  by  »OUM-. 


12  CONTENTS. 

talnlng  Ministers— Meets  with  a  Wealthy  Wesloyan— He  builds  a  cn.irch- 
Dedicated  by  a  Protracted  Meeting— A  great  Concourse  attends— Sjvcral  coo- 
verted— Scarcity  of  Bibles— Organization  of  Bible  Society Page  !<>« 

CHAPTER    XV. 

arthquake  of  1812— Consequent  Excitement— Numbers  join  the  Church,  <•' 
whom  many  fall  away — Is  stationed  on  Red  River  circuit  at  conference  of 
1817— Preaches  to  a  single  Hearer— His  Fame  is  spread  abroad— Draws 
crowded  Congregations — Dram-drinking — Reasons  for  and  against — Deals 
summarily  with  Breakers  of  the  Rules — A  Revival  springs  up — Class  Meetings 
with  closed  Doors — A  New  Light  Tormentor — How  she  is  got  rid  of— Young 
America — Sermon  on  Worldliness — Dr.  Bascom  reproved — Is  kept  in  the 
Shade—"  Who  is  General  Jackson?" — His  Independence  approved — Need  of  a 
Hell— Conference  of  1619— Complains  of  Violators  of  the  Discipline— They  aro 
obliged  to  conform — General  conference  of  1820 — Plan  of  the  Pro-slavery 
]>(lrty— Formation  of  Kentucky  conference— The  Church  in  the  West— Con- 
ference of  1820— Publishes  two  Anti-Calvinistic  Pamphlets— A  Satanic  Re- 
ply—The Rejoinder 180 

CHAPTER    XVI. 

Sets  out  with  Father  Walker  for  the  General  conference — Lodges  with  a  shout- 
ing Local  Preacher— Resumes  his  Journey— Finds  a  loaded  Pistol— Met  by  a 
Robber— Pistol  becomes  useful— A  Universalist  Landlord— Praying  off  a  Bill- 
Return  from  conference — Effects  of  "New  Cider" — A  surly  Host — Refuses 
Payment  in  Bills — Second  Thoughts  the  best — Dance  at  a  Tavern — Is  asked 
to  join — First  offers  a  Prayer — The  Dancing  ceases — Prays  and  exhorts — Many 
converted — Being  instant  in  and  out  of  Season — A  Preacher  up  to  tb*  Tiim>» — 
Dumb  Duvil— Kvil  of  Dram-drinking— Makes  an  Enemy  by  his  Temperance— 
Use  of  Liquor  defended  by  Methodists— Appointed  Presiding  Elder  of  Cumber- 
land  district  at  conference  of  1821 — First  round  of  Quarterly  Meetings — Pray- 
erless  Professors— Roaring  River  Camp  Meeting— A  Disorderly  Congregation— 
Arrests  their  Attention— Defends  the  Divinity  of  Christ— Vanquishes  its  Dis- 
putants—Outpouring  of  the  Spirit— An  Arian  Devil  cast  out— Simon  Carlisle- 
He  Reproves  a  young  Profligate — His  Revenge — Carlisle  arrested  for  Robbery — 
Requests  his  conference  to  suspend  him— Restored  to  bis  Standing  in  the 
Church — His  Innocence  proved 199 

CHAPTER    XVII. 

cplar  Grove  Camp  Meeting — Spunky  Widow — A  Proselyting  Baptist — Induce  J 
to  bear  Mr.  Cartwright  preach— Hears  part  of  the  Sermon  and  then  runs- 
Promise  of  Immortality  scouted— Publicly  reproves  a  young  Lawyer — Is  chal- 
lenged in  consequence — Chooses  his  Weapons — His  Opponent  is  Conscience- 
Btricken— Requests  bis  Prayers— Finds  Peace  in  Believing— Revival  at  Quar- 
terly Meeting— Regulates  the  Altar  Exercises— Sanctified  Wealth  a  Blessing 
In  tlie  Church — Needless  Church  Expenditures — Might  be  better  applied — 
Kowdies  at  a  Camp  Meeting — They  duteiuiiue  to  break  it  up — Essay  to  carry 
out  their  Plans — They  are  dispersed — Conversion  and  Reconciliation  of  bitter 
Enemies— Ungentlemanly  Infidel— Sessions  of  Kentucky  conference  for  1822 
and  182:i— Delegated  to  General  conference  of  1824— Clone  of  his  twentieth 
Tea'  in  tin.  Itinerancy— Retrospective  View 220 


CONTENTS.  13 


CHATTER    XVIII. 

Determines  to  remove  to  Illinois— Seasons  for  so  doing— Makes  the  Journey  oa 
Horseback— Selects  a  Location— Returns  through  Springfield— Is  transferred 
to  Illinois  conference-Parting  with  old  Friends— Fatal  Accio>nt  toon*  of  his 
Daughters—  Kindness  from  Strangers— Settles  in  Sangamon  county— Vicinage 
of  Ind:-ins— Extent  of  Sangamon  circuit— Appoints  a  Sacramental  Meeting— 
"Cartwright's  Flood"— A  close  Brother— A  Word  in  Season— Its  good  Ef- 
fect— Scarcity  of  Money-^Jamea  Dixon— Hunters'  Expedients— Tbeir  Priva- 
tions—Dixon  loses  his  Eyesight— Singular  Dream— HU  Sight  restored— Good 
Luck— Voyage  to  St.  Lonis—  Escapes  from  th«  Indians— A  successful  Trip- 
Becomes  a  Methodist— His  peaceful  Death— Increase  on  Sangamon  circuit- 
Conference  of  1825— Tiolent  Bilious  Attack^Journey  homeward— An  unkind 
Companion— THs  Dismissal— Stops  to  recruit— Proceeds  on  his  Way— I*  Sick 
on  the  Rnsd— Lies  down  to  Hie— Good  Samaritans— Is  met  by  his  Wife— Par- 
tial BecoTery— Crossing  the  Grand  Prairie. Tag*  244 

CHAPTER   XIX. 

Pent  to  Illinois  circuit  by  conference  of  1826— Is  a  Candidate  for  the  Legw 
lature—  Uears  himself  defamed— Faces  his  ReTiler— He  apologize*- Anothet 
Calumniator—  Proves  his  Assertions  to  be  false— An  aspiring  Lawyer— lie  is 
taken  down — Becomes  friendly — Dangers  in  the  Hue  of  Liqnor — Preaches  to  a 
highly-expectant  Congregation— Annoyance  at  Camp  Meeting  from  a  Drunken 
Crew— They  are  dispersed  by  an  Artifice— An  Insane  Enthusiast— Various  De- 
lusions— Expulsion  from  the  Church  of  an  Impostor — A  good  Investment — 
Value  of  Useful  Books— Appointed  Superintendent  of  Pottawattomie  district- 
Meeting  with  Indian  Chiefs— Expenses  of  this  Mission— Conference  of  1827- 
Voyage  to  General  conference  at  Pirtsbnrg— Immoral  Fellow- 
exciting  Debate— Comes  off  Victorious— Preaches  on  the  I 

CHAPTER   XX. 

Mxsent  from  conference  of  1828-Sicknew  of  Mrs.  Cartwright— Formation  of 
Oneida  conference — Organization  of  Canada  Methodist  Episcopal  Church- 
Attends  the  General  conference  of  1828— Ceta  the  Cold  Shoulder— Hearty  Re- 
ception—Spiritual  Darkness— Obtains  Relief— Dangers  of  Sew  circuit*— A 
Rough  Pulpit— Death  of  Bishop  George— Illinois  conference  of  1829— A  hen- 
pecked Husband— He  is  relieved— Written  Sermons  not  liked— A  Union 
Ch.irch-Unfair  Dealing— A  Methodist  church  built— Great  Sacrifice— Sanga- 
mon  Camp  Meeting — Groundless  Stories — Tormented  by  Mockers — They  stirfc 
in  the  Mud— The  Tables  turned— A  bigoted  Mother— Her  impotent  Rage— A 
Providential  Escape „  293 

CHAPTER    XXI. 

Elected  to  the  Oenera!  conference  of  1832— Prevented  from  attending  by  Family 
Sickness— Annoyed  at  Cmmp  Meeting  by  a  Huckster—  Prosecutes  hint— He 
refum-s  to  p«y  his  Fin.— His  St.-res  srizeU,  and  himself  taken  to  I'risou— Pay*. 
au.j  is  relt-teol— lli»  Coui|»uiuU8  deaire  to  retake  his  Uquur— Tbeir  KIUK- 
lemJi-r  quieted— lu-vixal  aiuvug  the  rrraecutor*— Divuiun  uf  llliiiou  cunfer- 
*n.i^-7*  ^nivraiiiuiaied  f..r  ten  H<>iir*— Qnincr  district  formed— S«»ae  willifg 
U>  go  lu  ii— l»ko.  Uw  Avpuuiuiicut— Cuancur  of  the  district— A  long  show- 


14  CONTENTS. 

er--An  onconrnging  Mofto— Wntery  Journey  A  High  -trm  t 
niirian— Hater  of  the  Methodi-H-Tlie  Ktevnal  IVrroes— Barton  Rondle— ni» 
Pnvationsaud  Usefulness— Visit  to  liock  Maud  mission— A  rascally  Fe«ry 
man—  FV'-ner  Site  of  an  Indian  Town— Fordius  Rock  river— An  unnxr-vi,  -1 
Wetting — Galena  mission  —  Dangerous  Kido  with  liis  l>auj;litor — Contrast  be- 
tween Traveling  then  and  now— I).  Jt.  Carter— A  beloved  Minister— Hid 
Death—  Fort  Edwards  mission Page  f& 

CHAPTER    XXII. 

Bise  of  the  Mormons  under  Joe  Smith — Their  Expulsion  from  Missouri,  and 
Establishment  at  Naitvoo — Acquaintance  with  Joe  Smith — His  Ignorance  and 
Cunning — Controversy  concerning  his  Doctrines — Relates  to  him  an  En- 
connter  with  Mormons  at  a  Camp  Meeting,  and  how  they  were  silenced — 
Smith  grows  Restive  under  this  Recital — Curses  him  in  the  Name  of  his  God 
Mormons  driven  from  Illinois— Illinois  conference  of  183.1- Bishop  Soule't 
Western  Tour — Travels  with  him  to  a  Quarterly  Meeting — Visitation  of  the 
Cholera — The  Bishop  attacked  with  Fever — Preacher  stationed  at  .lack Bon  - 
Tille—  First  Quarterly  conference  there— Rapid  Growth  of  the  Town— rilinoi* 
conference  of  1834— Religions  Kxcitement  in  RnsliTille  circuit— A  Papis 
Convert 341 

CHAPTER    XXITT. 

Knox  county  Camp  Meeting— A  Yankee  Family-Parents'  Pi.slike  of  the  Meth- 
odists—Efforts to  keep  their  Children  from  the  Meeting— The  Daughters  seek 
Religion— Opposition  of  their  Mother— Laughable  Incidents— Whole  Family 
becomes  Religious— Unhealthiness  of  Qnincy— A  Dying  Stranger— Takes 
Charge  of  his  Afiairs— A  Campbell ite  Debater— He  resists  the  Spirit— Becomes 
Insaue— Commits  Suicide 352 

CHAPTER    XXIV. 

Missionaries  sent  to  the  West— They  make  Evil  Reports  of  the  Land— Their 
Preaching  productive  of  no  Good — Election  to  General  conference  of  183C — 
Church  Paper  at  Cincinnati— Morris,  Waugh,  and  Fi.sk  elected  Bishops- 
Slavery  pronounced  a  Blessing— Ultra  Abolitionists— Plan  of  Separation- 
Opinions  of  Southern  Members  in  regard  to  Slavery— The  True  Wesleyans— 
Wilbur  Fisk— Confidence  of  the  Church  reposed  in  him— Declines  being  or- 
dained  Bishop— Six  new  conferences  formed— Funeral  Sermon  of  Bishop 
M'Kendree— Sketch  of  his  Life— Unhappy  Delay  in  the  Publication  of  hig 
Memoirs 358 

CHAPTER    XXV. 

Extent  of  Illinois  conference— Session  of  1837— Revival  in  Jacksonville  station— 
A  New-School  Minister — Change  of  Purpose  not  Conversion — Gracious  Rf- 
vival— A  live  Yankee  Minister— Abortive  Attempt  to  Preach— A  powerfu'  Ex- 
hortation—Anxious Inquirers — Easy  Way  of  becoming  a  Christian — Elected 
Delegate  to  General  conference  of  1840—  Agitation  on  Slavery  revived— Aboli- 
tionists led  by  0.  Scott — Opposes  the  Election  of  new  Bishr-^s — Several  new 
conferences  organized — Abolitionists  opposed  to  Colonization — They  refuse  to 
assist  poor  Churches  in  the  South— Winchester  Camp  Meeting— A  large  A t- 
tendaiice-NmnbersorReiiegndes—netermines  to  maintain  Good  Order-Rising 
wf  ,|,,,  Mol— Their  Leader  t.-.km— A  mock  Camp  Mreting-liowdies  put  to 
flifht— Thfir  Captain  converted— Trial  of  the  Dutuiberi 368 


CONTENTS.  J5 


CHATTER    XXVI. 

growth  of  the  Country-Its  state  in  1824— Determine*  to  buiM  a  cbtirrh  A 
t'nion  Church  proposed— lie  strongly  objects  to  it — Success  of  bis  Enterprise— 
First  church  in  Sangamon  circuit—  Waters's  Camp-groiiud — Quarterly  M«-PI- 
Ing  «t  Alton— A  Methodist  Ball — Crowded  Attendance — Christ  rejects  non«>— 
Answering  a  Fool  according  to  his  Folly— Universalism  a  conscience-soothing 
Doctrine — Quarterly  Meeting  at  Exeter — A  Company  of  Mockers — Happy  r,.u 
version — A  noted  Gambler — He  burns  bis  Cards — Obtains  Religion— Goes  t« 
CUh— Becomes  *  Mormon— A  despairing  Sinner— Die*  without  Hope—  Revita. 
at  Winchester — The  Campbell!  tes  present  tn  full  Force— They  provoke  Contro- 
versy— Their  Preacher  nonplused — Advice  to  Public  Sjeakprs — Conference  of 
1843— Bishop  Andrew  presides— General  conference  of  1844— Church  Statistics— 
Success  of  Early  Ministers ,.-..,.,....,.  Page  386 

CHAPTER    XXVII. 

Attends  the  General  conference  of  1844 — Government  of  the  Church — The  Bish- 
ops have  no  Legislative  Power — They  do  not  Hold  the  Church  Property— The 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  essentially  Antislavery— Ground  taken  by  the 
Northern  and  Southern  Delegates  respectively — Bishop  Andrew's  Connection 
with  Slavery— Course  which  the  conference  should  have  pursued — Course  of 
Bishop  Sonle— The  conference  had  no  Power  to  divide  the  Church— Dr.  El- 
liott's History  of  the  Secession— Abolitionists  have  done  nothing  for  the  Slave- 
Course  to  be  pursued  toward  Slaveholder* — Is  clear  of  Guilt  in  the  Action  of 
this  conference ~ ~ ^JU. „  411 

CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

Illinois  conference  of  1844 — Son-concurrence  in  the  Measures  of  the  General 
conference — Statement  of  Facts  in  the  Case — Slavebolding  never  a  Test  of 
Church  Membership— Conservatism  the  true  Ground— IU  Benefits  to  the 
Slave — Attends  a  nameless  Meeting  at  Cincinnati — Taken  ill  on  his  Way  to 
conference— Reaches  Alton  City— Has  Medical  Assistance  and  Proceeds— Ai  • 
rives  at  the  conference— A  gloomy  Tear— Southern  Delegates  call  a  Conven- 
tion— Renounce  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church — Form  a  separate  Organi- 
zation— Foul  Means  resorted  to— Bishop  Soule  chiefly  to  be  Blamed— Bishop 
Andrew  not  without  Fault  in  the  Matter — Fate  of  Extremes— Fearful  Results 
of  Schisms 4:i5 

CHAPTER    XXIX. 

*-s-c!on  of  Illinois  conference  for  1S45—  Returned  to  Bloomington  district-Tr.iT 
eling  hazardous  in  Winter  and  Spring — Commences  his  Ronnd  of  Quarter! 
Meetings — An  intensely  cold  Storm — Dreary  Ride — Reaches  a  Local  Preach 
er's  Cabin— One  of  his  Sons  converted  at  Prayers— Pursues  his  Journey— 
Crosses  Sangamon  river— Reaches  the  Meeting— The  Church  triumphs  over 
her  Foes— A  Week  at  Waynesville—  Nightly  Meetings— Frightful  Death— A 
feir  Conclusion— Paying  Cuiversnlist's  Bills— Elected  to  the  General  confer- 
ence of  m«—  An  exciting  Session— Southern  Delegates  come  resolved  on  Se- 
cession— The  Louisville  Convention— Measures  of  the  General  conference  of 
1844  nail  and  voi.l— A  peaceful  Settlement  evaded— German  Mission—  Its 
formation  by  Dr.  Xast— Death  of  Charles  Holliday— Election  to  the  GuwnU 


16  CONTENTS. 

confrivnce  of  \M->  Feebleness  of  Bishops  Heddinp  and  Hamllne— Affecting 
Address  of  Bishop  Waugh— Superintends  the  Mission  to  the  Pottawattomies- 
Change  in  the  Country— Increase  in  Wealth  and  Population— Methodism  dying 
out— Prejudice  of  tho  Minister  at  Warsaw  against  him— Oflered  the  Use  of  the 
Presbyterian  church— Power  of  God  on  tho  Congregation— Notified  to  vacate 
tlie  church— Supposed  Reasons  therefor—  Building  of  a  Methodist  church— 
Numerous  Accessions  to  the  Society — Revivals  the  Net  of  the  Church — Quinry 
station — A  Time  of  Refreshing — Sugar  Grove  Camp  Meeting — A  prosperous 
Year— Failing  Strength— Conference  of  1852— Pleasant  Plains  district  formed— 
Is  appointed  to  it  at  conference  of  1853 — Incidents  at  the  Boston  General  con- 
ference— His  Sermons  pronounced  Failures — The  Charm  broken — Character- 
istics of  the  Yankees— Their  Hospitality— New  England  Farms Page  4-Jl 

CHATTER    XXX. 

General  conference  of  1852— Peath  of  Bishop  Hodding— Election  of  four  new 
Bishops— A  Yankee  Triumph— Kvil  of  Pewcd  Churches— Parting  with  kind 
Friends— Pioneer  Preachers— Their  Labors  and  Success-^Jesse  Walker- 
Abundant  in  Labors — Becomes  Superannuated — Final  Triumph — Samuel  IT. 
Thompson — His  Early  Conversion — Great  Usefulness — Sinks  under  Priva- 
tions—His Ardent  Zeal— Last  Message— Victory  over  Death-^Johu  Dew- 
Talents  as  a  Preacher— Has  Souls  for  his  Hire— Is  greatly  Beloved— Goes  t* 
bis  Reward 48t 

CHAPTER    XXXI. 

Illinois  conferences  of  1854  and  1855— Election  to  the  General  conference  of 
1856— Slavery  Agitation— Multiplying  of  Stationi  tcndu  to  Congregational- 
ism— Changes  in  Church  Economy — Longer  Term  of  Ministerial  Appoint- 
ment— New  Rule  ou  Ordination 501 

CHAPTER    XXXII.- 

A  Wealthy  Physician— Avowed  Infidelity— Moral  Benefit  of  Christianity— An 
Inexplicable  Mystery— Breach  in  the  Walls— Evidences  of  the  Senses— The 
Poctor  convinced— His  Wife's  Conversion— Fervent  Prayer— A  Peaceful 
Answer — Glorious  Revival — Preaches  the  Gospel — Seals  to  his  Ministry — 
Taken  to  Abraham's  Bosom 607 

CHAPTER   XXXIII. 

Plainness  of  Early  Methodists — Extravagance  of  the  present  day— Duty  of 
Family  Prayer—  li.'snlts  of  its  Faithful  Performance— Neglect  of  many  on  this 
Score— Benefits  of  Prayer  Meetings— They  are  the  Seed  of  Revivals— Clang 
Meetings  owned  of  Cod— Their  Attendance  should  be  a  Test  of. Membership)— 
Value  of  faithful  Leaders 015 

CHAPTER    XXXIV. 

Review  of  the  Past. —  Entrance  into  the  Itinerant  Ranks — Children  and  Grand- 
children— All  striving  to  reach  Heaven — Amount  lost  on  Allowance — Value 
of  Books  sold— Collected  for  Benevolent  Purposes— Ministerial  Labors— IV- 
crease  of  Camp  Meetings— Plan  for  their  Revival— Growth  of  the  West- 
Thanks  for  Mercies— Prayers  implored °'<fl 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 

or 

PETER  CARTWRIGHT. 


CHAPTER  L 

PARBNTAGB. 

I  WAS  born  September  1,  1785,  in  Amherst  coun- 
ty, on  James  river,  in  the  state  of  Virginia.  My 
parents  were  poor.  My  father  was  a  soldier  in  the 
great  struggle  for  liberty,  in  the  Revolutionary  war 
with  Great  Britain.  lie  served  over  two  years. 
My  mother  was  an  orphan.  Shortly  after  the  united 
colonies  gained  their  independence,  my  parents 
moved  to  Kentucky,  which  was  a  new  country.  It 
was  an  almost  unbroken  wilderness  from  Virginia  to 
Kentucky  at  that  early  day,  and  this  wilderness  was 
filled  with  thousands  of  hostile  Indians,  and  many 
thousands  of  the  emigrants  to  Kentucky  lost  their 
lives  by  these  savages.  There  were  no  roads  for 
carriages  at  that  time,  and,  although  the  emigrants 
moved  by  thousands,  they  had  to  move  on  pack- 
horses.  Many  adventurous  young  men  went  to  this 
new  country.  The  fall  my  father  moved  there  were 
a  great  many  families  who  joined  together  for  mutual 
safety,  and  started  for  Kentuckv.  Besides  the  two 

17 


18  ACTOBIOQRArilYOP 

hundred  families  thus  united,  there  were  one  hun- 
dred young  men,  well  armed,  who  agreed  to  guard 
these  families  through,  and,  as  a  compensation,  they 
were  to  be  supported  for  their  services.  After  we 
struck  the  wilderness  we  rarely  traveled  a  day  but 
we  passed  some  white  persons,  murdered  and  scalped 
by  the  Indians  while  going  to  or  returning  from 
Kentucky.  We  traveled  on  till  Sunday,  and,  instead 
of  resting  that  day,  the  voice  of  the  company  ^yas  to 
move  on. 

It  was  a  dark,  cloudy  day,  misty  with  rain.  Many 
Indians  were  seen  through  the  day  skulking  round 
by  our  guards.  Late  in  the  evening  we  came  to 
what  was  called  "  Gamp  Defeat,"  where  a  number  of 
emigrant  families  had  been  all  murdered  by  the  sav- 
ages a  short  time  before.  Here  the  company  called 
a  halt  to  camp  for  the  night.  It  was  a  solemn, 
gloomy  time;  every  heart  quaked  with  fear. 

Soon  the  captain  of  our  young  men's  company 
placed  his  men  as  sentinels  all  round  the  encamp- 
ment. The  stock  and  the  women  and  children  were 
placed  iu  the  center  of  the  encampment.  Most  of 
the  men  that  were  heads  of  families,  were  placed 
around  outside  of  the  women  and  children.  Those 
who  were  not  placed  in  this  position,  were  ordered  to 
take  their  stand  outside  still,  in  the  edge  of  the  brush. 
It  was  a  dark,  dismal  night,  and  all  expected  an  at- 
tack from  the  Indians. 

That  night  my  father  was  placed  as  a  sentinel, 
with  a  good  rifle,  in  the  edge  of  the  brush.  Shortly 
after  he  took  his  stand,  and  all  was  quiet  in  the  camp 
he  thought  he  heard  something  moving  toward  him, 
and  grunting  like  a  swine.  lie  knew  there  was  no 
swine  with  the  moving  company,  but  it  was  so  dark 
he  could  not  see  what  it  was.  Presently  he  perceived 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  19 

a  Hark  object  in  tlic  distance,  but  nearer  him  than  at 
first,  and  believing  it  to  be  an  Indian,  aiming  to 
spring  upon  him  and  murder  him  in  the  dark,  he 
leveled  his  rifle,  and  aimed  at  the  dark  lump  as  well 
as  he  could,  and  fired.  He  soon  found  he  had  hit 
the  object,  for  it  flounced  about  at  a  terrible  rate,  anJ 
Tiiy  father  gathered  himself  up  and  ran  into  camp. 

When  his  gun  fired  there  was  an  awful  screaming 
throughout  the  encampment  by  the  women  and  chil- 
dren. My  father  was  soon  inquired  of  as  to  what 
was  the  matter.  ITe  told  them  the  circumstances  of 
the  case,  but  some  said  he  was  scared  and  wanted  an 
excuse  to  come  in ;  but  he  affirmed  that  there  was  no 
mistake,  that  there  was  something,  and  he  had  shot 
it;  and  if  they  would  get  a  light  and  go  with  him,  if 
he  did  not  show  them  something,  then  they  might 
call  him  a  coward  forever.  They  got  a  light  and 
went  to  the  place,  and  there  they  found  an  Indian, 
with  a  rifle  in  one  hand  and  a  tomahawk  in  the  other, 
dead.  My  father's  rifle-ball  had  struck  the  Indian 
nearly  central  in  the  head. 

There  was  but  little  sleeping  in  the  camp  that 
night.  HoAvever,  the  night  passed  away  without 
any  further  alarms,  and  many  glad  hearts  hailed  the 
dawn  of  a  new  day.  The  next  morning,  as  scon 
as  the  company  could  pack  up,  they  started  on  their 
journey. 

In  a  few  days  after  this  we  met  a  lone  man,  who 
said  his  name  was  Baker,  with  his  mouth  bleeding  at 
a  desperate  rate,  having  been  shot  by  an  Indian. 
Several  of  his  teeth  and  his  jaw-bone  were  broken  by 
a  ball  from  the  Indian's  gun.  His  account  of  a  battle 
with  the  Indians  was  substantially  as  follows : 

There  were  seven  young  white  men  returning  to 
Virginia  from  Kentucky,  all  well  armed;  one  of 


20  AOTOBiOQfcArn?  OF 

them,  a  Frenchman,  had  a  considerable  sum  of 
money  with  him.  All  seven  were  mounted  on  fine 
horses,  and  they  were  waylaid  by  seven  Indians. 

When  the  white  men  approached  near  the  am- 
bush they  were  fired  on  by  the  Indians,  and  three 
shot  down;  the  other  four  dismounted  and  shot 
down  three  of  the  Indians.  At  the  second  fire  of  the 
Indians  two  more  of  the  white  men  fell,  and  at  the 
second  fire  of  the  white  men  two  more  of  the  Indians 
fell.  Then  there  were  two  and  two.  At  the  third 
fire  of  the  Indians  Baker's  only  remaining  compan- 
ion fell,  and  he  received  the  wound  in  the  mouth. 
Thinking  his  chance  a  bad  one,  he  wheeled  and  ran, 
loading  his  gun  as  he  went.  Finding  a  large,  hollow 
tree,  he  crept  into  it,  feet  foremost,  holding  his  rifle 
ready  cocked,  expecting  them  to  look  in,  when  he 
intended  to  fire.  He  heard  the  Indians  cross  and 
recross  the  log  twice,  but  they  did  not  look  in. 

At  this  perilous  moment  he  heard  the  large  cow 
bell  that  was  on  one  of  the  drove  of  cattle  of  our  com- 
pany, and  shortly  after  he  crawled  out  of  the  log,  and 
made  his  way  to  us,  the  happiest  man  I  think  I  ever 
saw.  Our  company  of  young  men  rushed  to  the 
battle-ground,  and  found  the  dead  white  men  and 
Indians,  and  dug  two  separate  graves,  and  buried 
them  where  they  fell.  They  got  all  the  horses  and 
clothes  of  the  white  men  slain,  and  the  Frenchman's 
money,  for  the  surviving  Indians  had  not  time  to 
scalp  or  strip  them. 

When  we  came  within  seven  miles  of  the  Crab 
Orchard,  where  there  were  a  fort  and  the  first  white 
settlement,  it  was  nearly  night.  We  halted,  and  a 
vote  was  taken  whether  we  should  go  on  to  the  fort, 
or  camp  there  for  the  night.  Indians  had  been  seen 
in  our  rear  through  the  day.  All  wanted  to  go 


PITER   CARTWRIGHT.  21 

through  except  seven  families,  who  refused  to  go  any 
further  that  night.  The  main  body  went  on,  but 
they,  the  seven  families,  carelessly  stripped  off  their 
clothes,  laid  down  without  any  guards,  and  went  to 
sleep. 

Some  time  in  the  night  about  twenty-five  Indians 
rushed  on  them,  and  every  one,  men,  women,  and 
children,  was  slain,  except  one  man,  who  sprang  from 
his  bed  and  ran  into  the  fort,  barefooted  and  in  his 
night-clothes.  He  brought  the  melancholy  news  of 
the  slaughter. 

The  captain  of  the  fort  was  an  old,  experienced 
ranger  and  Indian  warrior.  These  murderous  bands 
of  savages  lived  north  of  the  Ohio  river,  and  would 
cross  over  into  Kentucky,  kill  and  steal,  and  then 
recross  the  Ohio  into  their  own  country.  The  old 
captain  knew  the  country  well,  and  the  places  of  their 
crossing  the  river.  Early  next  morning  he  called  for 
volunteers,  mounted  men,  and  said  he  could  get  ahead 
of  them.  A  goodly  company  turned  out,  and,  sure 
enough,  they  got  ahead  of  the  Indians,  and  formed  an 
ambush  for  them.  Soon  they  saw  the  Indians  com- 
ing, and,  at  a  given  signal,  the  whites  fired  on  them. 
At  the  first  shot  all  were  killed  but  three;  these 
were  pursued,  two  of  them  killed,  and  but  one  made 
his  escape  to  tell  the  sad  news.  All  the  plunder  of 
the  murdered  families  was  retaken. 

Thus  you  see  what  perilous  times  the  first  settlers 
had  to  reach  that  new  and  beautiful  country  of  "canes 
and  turkeys." 

Kentucky  was  claimed  by  no  particular  tribe  of 
Indians,  but  was  regarded  as  a  common  hunting- 
ground  by  the  various  tribes,  east,  west,  north,  and 
south.  It  abounded  in  various  valuable  game,  such  as 
buffalo,  elk,  bear,  deer,  turkeys,  and  many  o:he/ 


22  AUTOHlOURAPliYOF 

smaller  game,  and  hence  the  Indians  struggled  haid 
to  keep  the  white  people  from  taking  possession  of  it. 
Many  hard  and  bloody  battles  were  fought,  and  thou- 
sands killed  on  both  sides ;  and  rightly  was  it  named 
the  "land  of  blood."  But  finally  the  Indians  were 
overpowered  and  driven  off,  and  the  white  man  ob- 
tained a  peaceable  and  quiet  possession. 

It  was  chiefly  settled  by  Virginians,  as  noble  and 
brave  a  race  of  men  and  women  as  ever  drew  the 
breath  of  life.  But  Kentucky  was  far  in  the  interior, 
and  very  distant  from  the  Atlantic  shores;  and,  though 
a  part  of  the  great  Mississippi  Valley,  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi  and  thousands  of  miles  up  this  "  father  of 
waters  "  belonged  to  foreign,  and,  in  some  sense,  hos- 
tile nations,  that  were  not  very  friendly  to  the  new 
republic. 

The  Kentuckians  labored  under  many,  very  many, 
disadvantages  and  privations;  and  had  it  not  been  for 
the  fertility  of  the  soil  and  the  abundance  of  wild 
meat,  they  must  have  suffered  beyond  endurance. 
But  the  country  soon  filled  up,  and  entered  into  the 
enjoyment  of  improved  and  civilized  life. 


PETEilCAHTWRIUllT.  23 


CHAPTER  H. 

EARLY    LIFE. 

AFTFR  my  father  reached  Kentucky  he  rented  a  farm' 
for  two  years  in  Lincoln  county,  on  what  was  called 
the  "  Hanging  Fork  of  Dick's  river,"  near  Lancaster, 
the  county  seat. 

My  mother,  being  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  sought  and  obtained  an  acquaint- 
ance with  two  Methodist  traveling  preachers,  namely, 
John  Page  and  Benjamin  Northcut,  men  of  precious 
memory — men  that  are  to  be  numbered  as  early  pio- 
neers in  the  west,  who  labored  hard  and  suffered 
much  to  build  up  the  infant  Methodist  Church  in  the 
wilderness;  and  those  two  men  are  to  be  numbered 
among  the  oldest  Methodist  preachers  on  this  conti- 
nent that  are  now  living.  (Northcut  has  since  died.) 

In  the  fall  of  1793  my  father  determined  to  move 
to  what  was  then  called  the  Green  River  country^in 
the  southern  part  of  the  state  of  Kentucky.  He  did 
so,  and  settle*!  in  Logan  county,  nine  miles  south  of 
liussellville,  the  county  seat,  and  within  one  mile  of 
the  state  line  of  Tennessee. 

Shortly  after  our  removal  from  Lincoln  to  Logan 
county  my  father's  family  was  visited  by  Jacob  Lur- 
ton,  a  traveling  preacher  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  Though  my  father  was  not  a  professor  of 
religion,  yet  he  was  not  an  opposer  of  it,  and  when 
Jacob  Lurton  asked  the  liberty  of  preaching  in  hia 
cabin  he  readily  assented. 


24  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

I  was  then  in  my  ninth  year,  and  was  sent  out  to 
invite  the  neighbors  to  come  and  hear  preaching. 
Accordingly  they  crowded  out,  and  filled  the  cabin  to 
overflowing.  Jacob  Lurton  was  a  real  son  of  thundei . 
He  preached  with  tremendous  power,  and  the  congre- 
gation were  almost  all  melted  to  tears ;  some  cried 
aloud  for  mercy,  and  my  mother  shouted  aloud  for  joy. 

Jacob  Lurton  traveled  several  years,  married,  and 
located  in  Kentucky,  from  whence  he  removed  to 
Illinois,  and  settled  near  Alton,  where  he  died  many 
years  ago.  His  end  was  peaceful  and  happy. 

Shortly  after  Jacob  Lurton  preached  at  my  father's 
cabin,  he  or  his  successor  organized  a  small  class, 
about  four  miles  from  my  father's,  where  my  mother 
attached  herself  again  to  the  Church.  I  think  there 
were  thirteen  members,  one  local  preacher,  one  ex- 
horter,  and  a  class-leader.  Here  my  mother  regularly 
walked  every  Sabbath  to  class  meeting,  for  a  number 
of  years,  and  seldom  missed  this  means  of  grace. 
This  little  society  ebbed  and  flowed  for  years,  till 
about  1799,  when  a  mighty  revival  of  religion  broke 
out,  and  scores  joined  the  society.  We  built  a  little 
church,  and  called  it  Ebenezer.  This  was  in  what  was 
then  called  Cumberland  circuit,  and  Kentucky  dis- 
trict, in  the  Western  conference,  the  seventh  confer- 
ence in  the  United  States. 

Logan  county,  when  my  father  moved  to  it,  was 
called  "Rogues'  Harbor."  Here  many  refugees,  from 
almost  all  parts  of  the  Union,  fled  to  escape  justice  01 
punishment ;  for  although  there  was  law,  yet  it  coul 
not  be  executed,  and  it  was  a  desperate  state  of  so- 
ciety. Murderers,  horse  thieves,  highway  robbers, 
and  counterfeiters  fled  here  till  they  combined  and 
actually  formed  a  majority.  The  honest  and  civil 
part  of  the  citizens  would  prosecute  these  wretched 


PETER    C  A  Rl  WRIGHT.  25 

oanditti,  but  they  would  swear  each  other  clear;  and 
they  really  put  all  law  at  defiance,  and  carried  on 
such  desperate  violence  and  outrage  that  the  honest 
part  of  the  citizens  seemed  to  be  driven  to  the  neces- 
sity of  uniting  and  combining  together,  and  taking 
the  law  into  their  own  hands,  under  the  name  of 
Regulators.  This  was  a  very  desperate  state  of 
things. 

Shortly  after  the  Regulators  had  formed  themselves 
into  a  society,  and  established  their  code  of  by-laws,  on 
a  court  day  at  Russellville,  the  two  bands  met  in  town. 
Soon  a  quarrel  commenced,  and  a  general  battle  en- 
sued between  the  rogues  and  Regulators,  and  the/ 
fought  with  guns,  pistols,  dirks,  knives,  and  clubs. 
Some  were  actually  killed,  many  wounded;  the  rogues 
proved  victors,  kept  the  ground,  and  drove  the  Regu- 
lators out  of  town.  The  Regulators  rallied  again, 
hunted,  killed,  and  lynched  many  of  the  rogues,  till 
several  of  them  fled,  and  left  for  parts  unknown. 
Many  lives  were  lost  on  both  sides,  to  the  great  scan- 
dal of  civilized  people.  This  is  but  a  partial  view 
of  frontier  life. 

When  my  father  settled  in  Logan  county  there 
was  not  a  newspaper  printed  south  of  Green  river, 
no  mill  short  of  forty  miles,  and  no  schools  worth  the 
name.  Sunday  was  a  day  set  apart  for  hunting,  fish- 
ing, horse-racing,  card-playing,  balls,  dances,  and  all 
kinds  of  jollity  and  mirth.  We  killed  our  meat  out 
of  the  woods,  wild;  and  beat  our  meal  and  hominy 
with  a  pestle  and  mortar.  We  stretched  a  deer-skin 
over  a  hoop,  burned  holes  in  it  with  the  prongs  of  a 
fork,  sifted  our  meal,  baked  our  bread,  eat  it,  and  it 
was  first-rate  eating  too.  We  raised,  or  gathered  out 
of  the  woods,  our  own  tea.  We  had  sage,  bohea, 
cross-  vine,  spice,  and  sassafras  teas,  in  abundance.  As 


20  A  U  T  0  B  I  0  Q  R  A  1'  II  V    0  P 

for  coffee,  I  am  not  sure  that  I  ever  smelled  it  for  ten 
years.  We  made  our  sugar  out  of  the  water  of  the 
maple-tree,  and  our  molasses  too.  These  were  great 
luxuries  in  those  days. 

We  raised  our  own  cotton  and  flax.  We  water-rot- 
ted our  flax,  broke  it  by  hand,  scutched  it;  picked  the 
seed  out  of  the  cotton  with  our  fingers ;  our  mothers 
and  sisters  carded,  spun,  and  wove  it  into  cloth,  and 
they  cut  and  made  our  garments  and  bed-clothes,  etc. 
And  when  we  got  on  a  new  suit  thus  manufactured, 
and  sallied  out  into  company,  we  thought  ourselves 
" so  big  as  any  body." 

There  were  two  large  caves  on  my  father's  farm, 
and  another  about  half  a  mile  off,  where  was  a  great 
quantity  of  material  for  making  saltpeter.  We  soon 
learned  the  art  of  making  it,  and  our  class-leader  was 
a  great  powder-maker. 

Let  it  be  remembered,  these  were  days  when  we 
had  no  stores  of  dry  goods  or  groceries ;  but  the 
United  States  had  a  military  post  at  Fort  Messick,  on 
the  north  bank  of  the  Ohio  river  and  south  end  of 
the  state  of  Illinois.  Here  the  Government  kept 
stores  of  these  things.  After  we  had  made  a  great 
quantity  of  saltpeter,  -and  had  manufactured  it  into 
powder,  really  number  one,  strange  to  say,  it  came  into 
the  mind  of  our  class-leader  to  go  to  Fort  Messick  on  a 
trading  expedition.  Then  the  question  arose,  what  sort 
of  a  vessel  should  be  made  ready  for  the  voyage. 
This  difficulty  was  soon  solved;  for  he  cut  down  a 
large  poplar-tree,  and  dug  out  a  large  and  neat  canoe, 
and  launched  it  into  Red  river,  to  go  out  into  Cum- 
berland river,  and  at  the  mouth  jf  said  river  to  ascend 
the  Ohio  river  to  the  fort. 

Then  proclamation  was  made  to  the  neighborhood 
to  come  in  with  tljeir  money  or  marketing,  but  pow 


PETER    CART  WKIGllT.  27 

der  was  the  staple  of  the  trading  voyage.  They  were 
also  notified  to  bring  in  their  bills,  duly  signed,  stat- 
ing the  articles  they  wanted.  Some  sent  for  a  quarter 
of  a  pound  of  coffee,  some  one  yard  of  ribbon,  some  a 
butcher-knife,  some  for  a  tin  cup,  etc.,  etc.  I  really 
wish  I  had  the  bill;  I  would  give  it  as  a  literary  curi- 
osity of  early  days. 

Our  leader  went  and  returned,  safe  and  sound,  made 
a  good  exchange,  to  the  satisfaction  of  nearly  all  con- 
cerned; and  for  weeks  it  was  a  great  time  of  rejoic- 
ing, that  we,  even  in  Kentucky,  had  found  out  the 
glorious  advantages  of  navigation. 

I  was  naturally  a  wild,  wicked  boy,  and  delighted 
in  horse-racing,  card-playing,  and  dancing.  My 
father  restrained  me  but  little,  though  my  mother 
often  talked  to  me,  wept  over  me,  and  prayed  for  me, 
and  often  drew  tears  from  my  eyes;  and  though  1 
often  wept  under  preaching,  and  resolved  to  do  better 
and  seek  religion,  yet  I  broke  my  vows,  went  into 
young  company,  rode  races,  played  cards,  and  danced. 

At  length  my  father  gave  me  a  young  race-horse, 
which  well-nigh  proved  my  everlasting  ruin ;  and  he 
bought  me  a  pack  of  cards,  and  I  was  a  very  success- 
ful young  gambler;  and  though  I  was  not  initiated 
into  the  tricks  of  regular  gamblers,  yet  I  was  ?ery 
successful  in  winning  money.  This  practice  was  very 
fascinating,  and  became  a  special  besetting  sin  to  me, 
eo  that,  for  a  boy,  I  was  very  much  captivated  by  iU 
My  mother  remonstrated  almost  daily  with  me,  and  I 
had  to  keep  my  cards  hid  from  her ;  for  if  she  could 
have  found  them,  she  would  have  burned  them,  or 
destroyed  them  in  some  way.  0,  the  sad  delusions 
of  gambling !  How  fascinating,  and  how  hard  to  re- 
claim a  practiced  gambler !  Nothing  but  the  power 
of  Divine  ^race  saved  me  from  this  wretched  sin. 


28  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   0* 

My  father  sent  me  to  school,  boarding  me  at  Dr. 
Beverly  Allen's ;  but  my  teacher  was  not  well  quali- 
fied to  teach  correctly,  and  I  made  but  small  progress. 
I,  however,  learned  to  read,  write,  and  cipher  a  little, 
but  very  imperfectly.  Dr.  Allen,  with  whom  1 
boarded,  had,  in  an  early  day,  been  a  traveling 
preacher  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  He 
was  sent  south  to  Georgia,  as  a  very  gentlemanly  and 
popular  preacher,  and  did  much  good.  He  married 
in  that  country  a  fine,  pious  woman,  a  member  of  the 
Church ;  but  he,  like  David,  in  an  evil  hour,  fell  into 
sin,  violated  the  laws  of  the  country,  and  a  writ  was 
issued  for  his  apprehension.  He  warned  the  sheriff 
not  to  enter  his  room,  and  assured  him  if  he  did  he 
would  kill  him.  The  sheriff  rushed  upon  him,  and 
Allen  shot  him  dead.  He  fled  from  that  country  to 
escape  justice,  and  settled  in  Logan  county,  thea 
called  "  Rogues'  Harbor."  His  family  followed  hin., 
and  here  he  practiced  medicine.  To  ease  a  troubled 
conscience  he  drank  in  the  doctrine  of  Universalism ; 
but  he  lived  and  died  a  great  friend  to  the  Methodist 
Church. 

It  fell  to  my  lot,  after  I  had  been  a  preacher  several 
years,  to  visit  the  Doctor  on  his  dying  bed.  I  talked 
to,  and  prayed  with  him.  Just  before  he  died  1 
asked  him  if  he  was  willing  to  die  and  meet  his  final 
Judge  with  his  Universalist  sentiments.  He  frankly 
said  he  was  not.  He  said  he  could  make  the  mercy 
of  God  cover  every  case  in  his  mind  but  his  own,  but 
he  thought  there  was  no  mercy  for  him ;  and  in  this 
state  of  mind  he  left  the  world,  bidding  his  family 
and  friends  an  eternal  farewell,  warning  them  not  to 
come  to  that  place  of  torment  to  which  he  felt  him- 
self eternally  doomed. 

- 


PETER   CARTWRIGHT.  29 


CHAPTER  III. 

CANE    RIDGE    CAMP    MEETING. 

TIME  rolled  on,  population  increased  fast  around  us, 
the  country  improved,  horse  thieves  and  murderers 
were  driven  away,  and  civilization  advanced  consid- 
erably. Ministers  of  different  denominations  came 
in,  and  preached  through  the  country;  but  the  Meth- 
odist preachers  were  the  pioneer  messengers  of  salva- 
tion in  these  ends  of  the  earth.  Even  in  Rogues' 
Harbor  there  was  a  Baptist  Church  a  few  miles  west 
of  my  father's,  and  a  Presbyterian  congregation  a  few 
miles  north,  and  the  Methodist  JSbenezer  a  few  miles 
south. 

There  were  two  Baptist  ministers,  one  an  old  man 
of  strong  mind  and  good,  very  good,  natural  abilities, 
having  been  brought  up  a  rigid  Calvinist,  and  having 
been  taught  to  preach  the  doctrine  of  particular  elec- 
tion and  reprobation.  At  length  his  good  sense  re- 
volted at  the  horrid  idea,  and,  having  no  correct 
books  on  theology,  he  plunged  into  the  opposite  ex 
treme,  namely,  universal  redemption.  He  lived  in  a 
very  wicked  settlement.  lie  appointed  a  day  to  pub- 
lish his  recantation  of  his  old  Calvinism,  and  his  views 
on  universal  and  unconditional  salvation  to  all  man- 
kind. The  whole  country,  for  many  miles  around, 
crowded  to  hear  the  joyful  neivs.  When  he  had 
finished  his  discourse,  the  vilest  of  the  vile  multitude 
raised  the  shout,  expressing  great  joy  that  there  was 
no  hell- or  eternal  punishment. 


30  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    Olr 

I  will  here  state  a  circumstance  that  occurred  to 
the  old  gentleman  and  myself.  He  was  a  great 
smoker,  and  as  he  passed  my  father's  one  day,  to 
marry  a  couple,  he  came  to  the  fence  and  called  to 
me,  and  said,  "  Peter,  if  you  will  bring  me  a  coal  of 
fire  to  light  my  pipe,  I  will  tell  you  how  to  get  out  of 
hell,  if  you  ever  get  there."  Although  I  was  very 
wicked,  the  expression  exceedingly  shocked  me,  and 
neither  the  devil  nor  any  of  his  preachers  have  ever 
been  able,  from  that  day  to  this,  seriously  to  tempt 
me  to  believe  the  blasphemous  doctrine. 

The  other  Baptist  minister  soon  took  to  open  drunk- 
enness, and  with  him  his  salvation  by  water  expired ; 
but  if  ever  there  was  a  jubilee  in  hell,  it  was  then  and 
there  held,  over  these  apostate  and  fallen  ministers, 
B.  A.  and  Dr.  Allen. 

Somewhere  between  1800  and  1801,  in  the  upper 
part  of  Kentucky,  at  a  memorable  place  called  "  Cane 
Ridge,"  there  was  appointed  a  sacramental  meeting 
by  some  of  the  Presbyterian  ministers,  at  which  meet- 
ing, seemingly  unexpected  by  ministers  or  people,  the 
mighty  power  of  God  was  displayed  in  a  very  extra- 
ordinary manner ;  many  were  moved  to  tears,  and 
bitter  and  loud  crying  for  mercy.  The  meeting  was 
protracted  for  weeks.  Ministers  of  almost  all  denomi- 
nations flocked  in  from  far  and  near.  The  meeting 
was  kept  up  by  night  and  day.  Thousands  heard  of  the 
mighty  work,  and  came  on  foot,  on  horseback,  in  car- 
riages and  wagons.  It  was  supposed  that  there  were 
in  attendance  at  times  during  the  meeting  from 
twelve  to  twenty-five  thousand  people.  Hundreds 
fell  prostrate  under  the  mighty  power  of  God,  as  men 
slain  in  battle.  Stands  wore  erected  in  the  woods, 
from  which  preachers  of  different  Churches  pro- 
claimed repentance  toward  God  and  faith  in  our  Lord 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  81 

Jesus  Chrbt,  ami  it  was  supposed,  by  eye  and  ear  wit- 
nesses, that  between  one  and  two  thousand  souls  were 
happily  and  powerfully  converted  to  God  during  the 
meeting.  It  was  not  unusual  for  one,  two,  three,  and 
four  to  seven  preachers  to  be  addressing  the  listening 
thousands  at  the  same  time  from  the  different  stands 
erected  for  the  purpose.  The  heavenly  fire  spread  in 
almost  every  direction.  It  was  said,  by  truthful  wit- 
nesses, that  at  times  more  than  one  thousand  persons 
broke  out  into  loud  shouting  all  at  once,  and  that  the 
shouts  could  be  heard  for  miles  around. 

From  this  camp  meeting,  for  so  it  ought  to  be  called, 
the  news  spread  through  all  the  Churches,  and  through 
all  the  land,  and  it  excited  great  wonder  and  surprise ; 
but  it  kindled  a  religious  flame  that  spread  all  over 
Kentucky  and  through  many  other  states.  And  I 
may  here  be  permitted  to  say,  that  this  was  the  first 
camp  meeting  ever  held  in  the  United  States,  aud 
here  our  camp  meetings  took  their  rise- 
As  Presbyterian,  Methodist,  and  Baptist  ministers 
all  united  in  the  blessed  work  at  this  meeting,  when 
they  returned  home  to  their  different  congregations, 
and  carried  the  news  of  this  mighty  work,  the  revival 
spread  rapidly  throughout  the  land;  but  many  of  the 
ministers  and  members  of  the  synod  of  Kentucky 
thought  it  all  disorder,  and  tried  to  stop  the  work. 
They  called  their  preachers  who  were  engaged  in  the 
revival  to  account,  and  censured  and  silenced  them. 
These  ministers  then  rose  up  and  unitedly  renounced 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  organized 
a  Church  of  their  own,  and  dubbed  it  with  the  name 
of  Cl>*istian.  Here  was  the  origin  of  what  was  'ailed 
the  Nrw  Liglits.  They  renounced  the  Westnr  nster 
Corfession  of  Faith,  and  all  Church  disciplir  .  and 
professed  to  take  the  New  Testament  for  their  (  liurch 


32  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

discipline.  They  established  no  standard  of  doctrine ; 
every  one  was  to  take  the  New  Testament,  read  it, 
and  abide  his  own  construction  of  it.  Marshall, 
M'Namar,  Dunlcvy,  Stone,  Huston,  and  others,  were 
the  chief  leaders  in  this  trash  trap.  Soon  a  divers- 
'ty  of  opinion  sprang  up,  and  they  got  into  a  Ba- 
bel confusion.  Some  preached  Arian,  some  Socin- 
ian,  and  some  Universalist  doctrines;  so  that  in  a 
few  years  you  could  not  tell  what  was  harped  or  what 
was  danced.  They  adopted  the  mode  of  immersion, 
the  water-god  of  all  exclusive  errorists;  and  directly 
there  was  a  mighty  controversy  about  the  way  to 
heaven,  whether  it  was  by  water  or  by  dry  land. 

In  the  mean  time  a  remnant  of  preachers  that  broke 
off  from  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  1792, 
headed  by  James  O'Kelly,  who  had  formed  a  party 
because  he  could  not  be  a  bishop  in  said  Church, 
which  party  he  called  the  Republican  Methodist 
Church,  came  out  to  Kentucky,  and  formed  a  union 
with  these  New  Lights.  Then  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church  had  war,  and  rumors  of  war,  almost  on 
every  side.  The  dreadful  diversity  of  opinion  among 
these  New  Lights,  their  want  of  any  standard  of  doc- 
trines, or  regular  Church  discipline,  made  them  an 
easy  prey  to  prowling  Avolves  of  any  description. 

Soon  the  Shaker  priests  came  along,  and  off  went 
M'Namar,  Dunlevy,  and  Huston,  into  that  foolish 
error.  Marshall  and  others  retraced  their  steps.  B. 
W.  Stone  stuck  to  his  New  Lightism,  and  fought 
many  bloodless  battles,  till  he  grew  old  and  feeble,  and 
the  mighty  Alexander  Campbell,  the  great,  arose  and 
poured  such  floods  of  regenerating  water  about  the 
old  man's  cranium,  that  he  formed  a  union  with  this 
giant  crrorist,  and 'finally  died,  not  much  lamented 
out  of  the  circle  of  a  few  friends.  And  this  is  the 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  53 

way  with  all   the  New  Lights,  in    the   government, 
morals,  and  discipline  of  the  Church. 

This  Christian,  or  New  Light  Church,  is  a  feehle  and 
scattered  people,  though  there  are  some  good  Chris- 
tians among  them.  I  suppose  since  the  day  of  Pentc- 
:here  was  hardly  ever  a  greater  revival  of  religion 
than  at  Cane  Ridge;  and  if  there  had  been  steady^ 
Christian  ministers,  settled  in  Gospel  doctrine  and 
Church  discipline,  thousands  might  have  been  saved 
to  the  Church  that  wandered  off  in  the  mazes  of  vain, 
speculative  divinity,  and  finally  made  shipwreck  of 
the  faith,  fell  back,  turned  infidel,  and  lost  their  re- 
ligion and  their  souls  forever.  But  evidently  a  new 
impetus  was  given  to  the  work  of  God,  and  many, 
very  many,  will  have  cause  to  bless  God  forever  for 
this  revival  of  religion  throughout  the  length  and 
breadth  of  our  Zion. 


34  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 


CHAPTER  IV. 

CONVERSION. 

IN  1801,  when  I  was  in  my  sixteenth  year,  my  father  ^ 
my  eldest  half  brother,  and  myself,  attended  a  wed- 
ding about  five  miles  from  home,  where  there  was  a 
great  deal  of  drinking  and  dancing,  which  was  very 
common  of  marriages  in  those  days.  I  drank  little 
or  nothing;  my  delight  was  in  dancing.  After  a  late 
hour  in  the  night,  we  mounted  our  horses  and  started 
for  home.  I  was  riding  my  race-horse. 

A  few  minutes  after  we  had  put  up  the  horses,  and 
were  sitting  by  the  fire,  I  began  to  reflect  on  the 
manner  in  which  I  had  spent  the  day  and  evening.  I 
felt  guilty  and  condemned.  I  rose  and  walked  the 
floor.  My  mother  was  in  bed.  It  seemed  to  me,  all 
of  a  sudden,  my  blood  rushed  to  my  head,  my  heart 
palpitated,  in  a  few  minutes  I  turned  blind;  an  awful 
impression  rested  on  my  mind  that  death  had  come 
and  I  was  unprepared  to  die.  I  fell  on  my  knees  and 
began  to  ask  God  to  have  mercy  on  me. 

My  mother  sprang  from  her  bed,  and  was  soon  on 
her  knees  by  my  side,  praying  for  me,  and  exhorting 
me  to  look  to  Christ  for  mercy,  and  then  and  there 
I  promised  the  Lord  that  if  he  would  spare  me  I 
would  seek  and  serve  him;  and  I  never  fully  broke 
that  promise.  My  mother  prayed  for  me  a  long  time. 
At  length  we  lay  down,  but  there  was  little  sleep  for 
me.  Next  morning  I  rose,  feeling  wretched  beyond 
expression.  I  tried  to  read  in  the  Testament,  and 


PETER    CAKTWRIGHT.  35 

retired  many  times  to  secret  prayer  through  the  day, 
but  found  no  relief.  I  gave  up  my  race-horse  to  my 
father,  and  requested  him  to  sell  him.  I  went  and 
brought  my  pack  of  cards,  and  gave  them  to  mother, 
who  threw  them  into  the  fire,  and  they  were  consumed 
I  fasted,  watched,  and  prayed,  and  engaged  in  regulai 
reading  of  the  Testament.  I  was  so  distressed  and  mis- 
erable, that  I  was  incapable  of  any  regular  business. 

MY  father  was  greatly  distressed  on  my  account, 
thinking  I  must  die,  and  he  would  lose  his  only  son. 
lie  bade  me  retire  altogether  from  business,  and  take 
care  of  myself. 

Soon  it  was  noised  abroad  that  I  was  distracted, 
and  many  of  my  associates  in  wickedness  came  to 
see  me,  to  try  and  divert  my  mind  from  those  gloomy 
thoughts  of  my  wretchedness ;  but  all  in  vain.  I  ex- 
horted them  to  desist  from  the  course  of  wickedness 
which  we  had  been  guilty  of  together.  The  class-lead 
er  and  local  preacher  were  sent  for.  They  tried  to 
point  me  to  the  bleeding  Lamb,  they  prayed  for  me 
most  fervently.  Still  I  found  no  comfort,  and  although 
I  had  never  believed  in  the  doctrine  of  uncondition- 
al election  and  reprobation,  I  was  sorely  tempted  to 
believe  I  was  a  reprobate,  and  doomed,  and  lost 
eternally,  without  any  chance  of  salvation. 

At  length,  one  day  I  retired  to  the  horse-lot,  and 
was  walking  and  wringing  my  hands  in  great  anguish, 
Irving  to  pray,  on  the  borders  of  utter  despair.  It 
appeared  to  me  that  I  heard  a  voice  from  heavti* 
saying,  "Peter,  look  at  me."  A  feeling  of  relief 
flashed  over  me  as  quick  as  an  electric  shock.  It 
gave  me  hopeful  feelings,  and  some  encouragement 
to  seek  mercy,  but  still  my  load  of  guilt  remained 
1  repaired  to  the  house  and  told  my  mother  what 
had  happened  to  me  in  the  horse-lot.  Instantly  she 


36  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

seemed  to  understand  it,  and  told  me  the  Lord  had 
done  this  to  encourage  me  to  hope  for  mercy,  and 
exhorted  me  to  take  encouragement,  and  seek  on, 
and  God  would  bless  me  with  the  pardon  of  my  sins 
at  another  time. 

Some  days  after  this  I  retired  to  a  cave  on  my 
father's  farm  to  pray  in  secret.  My  soul  was  in  an 
agony ;  I  wept,  I  prayed,  and  said,  "  Now,  Lord,  if 
there  is  any  mercy  for  me,  let  me  find  it,"  and  it  really 
seemed  to  me  that  I  could  almost  lay  hold  of  the 
Savior,  and  realize  a  reconciled  God.  All  of  a  sud- 
den, such  a  fear  of  the  devil  fell  upon  me  that  it 
really  appeared  to  me  that  he  was  surely  personally 
there,  to  seize  and  drag  me  down  to  hell,  soul  and 
body,  and  such  a  horror  fell  on  me  that  I  sprang  to 
my  feet  and  ran  to  my  mother  at  the  house.  My 
mother  told  me  this  was  a  device  of  Satan  to  prevent 
me  from  finding  the  blessing  then.  Three  months 
rolled  away,  and  still  I  did  not  find  the  blessing  of 
the  pardon  of  my  sins. 

This  year,  1801,  the  Western  conference  existed, 
and  I  think  there  Avas  but  one  presiding  elder's  dis- 
trict in  it,  called  the  Kentucky  district.  William 
M'Kendree — afterward  bishop — was  appointed  to  the 
Kentucky  district.  Cumberland  circuit,  which,  per- 
haps, was  six  hundred  miles  round,  and  lying  partly 
in  Kentucky  and  partly  in  Tennessee,  Avas  one  of  the 
circuits  of  this  district.  John  Page  and  Thomas 
AVilkorson  were  appointed  to  this  circuit. 

In  the  spring  of  this  year  Mr.  M'Grady,  a  minister 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  who  had  a  congregation 
and  meeting-house,  as  we  then  called  them,  about 
three  miles  north  of  my  father's  house,  appointed  a 
sacramental  meeting  in  this  congregation,  and  invited 
the  Methodist  preachers  to  attend  with  them,  and 


PETER   CART  WRIGHT.  37 

especially  John  Page,  who  was  a  powerful  Gospel 
minister,  and  was  very  popular  among  the  Presbyte- 
rians. Accordingly  he  came,  and  preached  with 
peat  power  and  success. 

There  were  no  camp  meetings  in  regular  form  at  this 
time,  but  as  there  was  a  great  waking  up  among  the 
Churches,  from  the  revival  that  had  broken  out  at 
Cane  Ridge,  before  mentioned,  many  flocked  to  those 
sacramental  meetings.  The  church  would  not  hold 
the  tenth  part  of  the  congregation.  Accordingly,  the 
officers  of  the  Church  erected  a  stand  in  a  contigu- 
ous shady  grove,  and  prepared  seats  for  a  large  con- 
gregation. 

The  people  crowded  to  this  meeting  from  far  and 
near.  They  came  in  their  large  wagons,  with  victuals 
mostly  prepared.  The  women  slept  in  the  wagons, 
and  the  men  under  them.  Many  staid  on  the 
ground  night  and  day  for  a  number  of  nights  and 
days  together.  Others  were  provided  for  among  the 
neighbors  around.  The  power  of  God  was  wonder- 
fully displayed;  scores  of  sinners  fell  under  the 
preaching,  like  men  slain  in  mighty  battle;  Chris- 
tians shouted  aloud  for  joy. 

To  this  meeting  I  repaired,  a  guilty,  wretched  sig- 
ner. On  the  Saturday  evening  of  said  meeting  I 
went,  with  weeping  multitudes,  and  bowed  before 
the  stand,  and  earnestly  prayed  for  mercy.  In  the 
midst  of  a  solemn  struggle  of  soul,  an  impression  was 
made  on  my  mind,  as  though  a  voice  said  to  me, 
"Thy  sins  are  all  forgiven  thee."  Divine  light 
flashed  all  round  me,  unspeakable  joy  sprung  up  in 
my  soul.  I  rose  to  my  feet,  opened  my  eyes,  and  it 
really  seemed  as  if  I  was  in  heaven;  the  trees,  the 
\eaves  on  them,  and  every  thing  seemed,  and  I  really 
thought  were,  praising  God.  My  mother  raised  the 


.^liout,  my  Christian  friends  crowded  around  mo  and 
joined  me  in  praising  God;  and  though  I  have  been 
since  then,  in  many  instances,  unfaithful,  yet  I  have 
never,  for  one  moment,  doubted  that  the  Lord  did, 
then  and  there,  forgive  my  sins  and  give  me  religion. 

Our 'meeting  lasted  without  intermission  all  night, 
and  it  was  believed  by  those  "who  had  a  very  goo-l 
right  to  know,  that  over  eighty  souls  were  converted 
to  God  during  its  continuance.  I  went  on  my  way 
rejoicing  for  many  days.  This  meeting  was  in  the 
month  of  May.  In  June  our  preacher,  John  Page,  at- 
tended at  our  little  church,  Ebenezer,  and  there  in 
June,  1801, 1  joined  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
which  I  have  never  for  one  moment  regretted.  I  have 
never  for  a  moment  been  tempted  to  leave  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Clvarch,  and  if  they  were  to  turn  me 
out  I  would  knock  at  the  door  till  taken  in  again.  I 
suppose,  from  the  year  1786  Methodist  preachers  had 
been  sent  to  the  west,  and  we  find  among  these  very 
early  pioneers,  F.  Poythress,  presiding  elder,  T.  Wil- 
liamson, I.  Brooks,  Wilson  Lee,  James  Haw,  P 
Massie,  B.  M'Henry,  B.  Snelling,  J.  llartly,  J.  Tal- 
man,  J.  Lillard,  Kobler,  and  others. 

Perhaps  the  first  conference  held  in  the  west 
was  held  in  Kentucky,  in  April,  1789,  and  then  at 
different  points  till  1800,  when  the  Western  confer- 
ence was  regularly  organized,  and  reached  from  Red- 
stone and  Greeribricr  to  Natchez,  covering  almost 
the  entire  Mississippi  Valley.  I  can  find  at  this  time 
a  record  of  but  ninety  members  in  1787,  and  five 
traveling  preachers.  From  1787  up  to  1800  Bishop 
Asbury  visited  the  western  world,  called  together 
the  preachers  in  conferences,  changed  them  from 
time  to  time,  and  regulated  the  affairs  of  the  infant 
Church  in  the  wilderness  as  best  be  could. 


PETER    CAKTWBIGHT.  39 

Several  times  the  western  preachers  had  to  arm 
themselves  in  crossing  the  mountains  to  the  east, 
and  guard  Bishop  Asbury  through  the  wilderness, 
which  was  infested  with  bloody,  hostile  savages,  at 
the  imminent  risk  of  all  their  lives.  Notwithstand- 
ing the  great  hazard  of  life,  that  eminent  apostle  of 
American  Methodism,  Bishop  Asbury,  showed  that 
he  did  not  count  his  life  dear,  so  that  he  could  pro- 
vide for  the  sheep  in  the  wilderness  of  the  west. 

At  the  time  I  joined  the  Church  in  1801,  accord- 
ing to  the  best  accounts  that  I  can  gather,  there  were 
in  the  entire  bounds  of  the  Western  conference,  of 
members,  probationers,  colored  and  all,  two  thou- 
sand, four  hundred  and  eighty-four,  and  about  fifteen 
traveling  preachers.  In  the  United  States  and  terri- 
tories, east  and  west,  north  and  south,  and  Canada, 
seventy-two  thousand,  eight  hundred  and  seventy- 
four.  Total,  in  Europe  and  America,  one  hundred 
and  ninety-six  thousand,  five  hundred  and  two.  The 
number  of  traveling  preachers  this  year,  for  all 
America  and  Canada,  was  three  hundred  and  seven ; 
and  during  the  same  year  there  were  eight  thousand 
members  added  to  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

I  believe,  to  say  nothing  of  some  local  preachers 
who  emigrated  to  the  west  at  a  very  early  day,  that 
James  Haw  and  Benjamin  Ogden  were  the  first  two 
regular  itinerant  preachers  sent  out  in  1786.  After 
traveling  and  preaching  for  several  years,  they 
both  became  disaffected  to  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  and  withdrew,  with  the  secession  of  James 
O'Kelly,  elsewhere  named  in  my  sketches.  O'Kelly 
.eft  the  Church  in  1792.  He  was  a  popular  arid 
powerful  preacher,  and  drew  oft'  many  preachers  and 
thousands  of  members  with  him.  He  formed  what 
De  called  the  Re-publican  Methodist  Church,  flourish- 


40  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

ed  for  a  few  years,  and  then  divisions  and  subdivi- 
sions entered  among  his  followers.  Some  of  his 
preachers  turned  Arians,  some  Ilnivcrsalists,  and 
some  joined  the  so-called  New  Lights,  and  some  re- 
turned to  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  the 
ast  authentic  account  I  had  of  O'Kclly  he  was  left 
alone  in  his  old  age,  arid  desired  to  return  to  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  again;  but  whether  he 
was  ever  received  I  am  not  informed.  And  here  was 
an  end  of  the  first  grand  secession  from  our  beloved 
Church. 

James  Haw  and  Benjamin  Ogden,  we  have  said, 
became  disaffected  and  left  the  Church  with  O'Kclly's 
party.  They  soon  found  that  they  could  not  succeed 
to  any  considerable  extent  in  these  western  wilds. 
Haw  veered  about  and  joined  the  Presbyterians,  be- 
came a  pastor  in  one  of  their  congregations  with  a 
fixed  salary,  but  lived  and  died  in  comparative 
obscurity. 

Ogden  backslid,  quit  preaching,  kept  a  groggcry, 
and  became  wicked,  and  raised  his  family  to  hate  the 
Methodists.  In  the  year  1813,  when  I  was  on  the 
Wabash  district,  Tennessee  conference,  Breckenridge 
circuit,  at  a  camp  meeting  in  said  circuit,  B.  Ogden 
attended.  There  was  a  glorious  revival  of  religion, 
and  Ogden  got  under  strong  conviction,  and  profess- 
ed to  be  reclaimed,  joined  the  Church  again,  was 
licensed  to  preach,  was  soon  recommended  and  re- 
ceived into  the  traveling  connection  again,  and  lived 
and  died  a  good  Methodist  preacher.  He  was  saved 
by  mercy,  as  all  seceders  from  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church  will  be,  if  saved  at  all. 

To  show  the  ignorance  the  early  Methodist  preach- 
ers had  to  contend  with  in  the  western  wilds,  ] 
will  relate  an  incident  or  two  that  ocurred  to  Wilson 


PETER    CARTW-RIffllT.  41 

Lcc  in  Kentucky.  lie  was  one  of  the  early  pioneer 
Methodist  preachers  sent  to  the  west.  He  was  a 
very  solemn  and  grave  minister.  At  one  of  his  ap- 
pointments, at  a  private  house  on  a  certain  day,  they 
had  a  motherless  pet  lamh.  The  boys  of  the  family 
had  mischievously  learned  this  lamb  to  butt.  They 
would  go  near  it,  and  make  motions  with  their  heads, 
and  the  lamb  would  back  and  then  dart  forward  at 
them,  and  they  would  jump  out  of  the  way,  so  that 
the  sheep  would  miss  them. 

A  man  came  into  the  congregation  who  had  been 
drinking  and  frolicking  all  the  night  before.  He 
came  in  late,  and  took  his  seat  on  the  end  of  a  bench 
nearly  in  the  door,  and,  having  slept  none  the  night 
before,  presently  he  began  to  nod ;  and  as  he  nodded 
and  bent  forward,  the  pet  lamb  came  along  by  the 
door,  and  seeing  this  man  nodding  and  bending  for- 
ward, he  took  it  as  a  banter,  and  straightway  backed 
and  then  sprang  forward,  and  gave  the  sleeper  a  severe 
jolt  right  on  the  head,  and  over  he  tilted  him,  to  the 
no  small  amusement  of  the  congregation,  who  all 
burst  out  into  laughter;  and  grave  as  the  preacher, 
Mr.  Lee,  was,  it  so  excited  his  risibilities  that  he 
almost  lost  his  balance.  But  recovering  himself  a 
little,  he  went  on  in  a  most  solemn  and  impressive 
strain.  His  subject  was  the  words  of  our  Lord : 
'•Except  a  man  deny  himself,  and  take  up  his  cross, 
he  can  not  be  my  disciple."  He  urged  on  his  congre- 
gation, with  melting  voice  and  tearful  eyes,  to  take 
up  the  cross,  no  matter  what  it  was,  take  it  up. 

There  were  in  the  congregation  a  very  wicked 
Dutchman  and  his  wife,  both  of  whom  were  pro- 
foundly ignorant,  of  the  Scriptures  and  the  plan  of 
salvation.  His  wife  was  a  notorious  scold,  and  so 
much  was  she  given  to  this  practice,  that  she  made 


12  A  IT  T  0  B  1  0  C  ft  A  I'  11  V    OF 

her  husband  unhappy,  and  kept  him  almost  always  in 
a  perfect  fret,  so  that  he  led  a  most  miserable  and 
uncomfortable  life.  It  pleased  God  that  day  to  cause 
the  preaching  of  Mr.  Lee  to  reach  their  guilty  souls 
and  break  up  the  great  deep  of  their  hearts.  They 
"wept  aloud,  seeing  their  lost  condition,  and  thcv, 
then  and  there,  resolved  to  do  better,  and  from  that 
time  forward  to  take  up  the  cross  and  bear  it,  be  it 
what  it  might. 

The  congregation  were  generally  det^r'y  affectc-d. 
Mr.  Lee  exhorted  them  and  prayed  for  them  as  long 
as  he  consistently  could,  and,  having  another  appoint- 
ment some  distance  off  that  evening,  he  dismissed  the 
congregation,  got  a  little  refreshment,  saddled  his 
horse,  mounted,  and  started  for  his  evening  appoint- 
ment. After  riding  some  distance,  he  saw,  a  little 
ahead  of  him,  a  man  trudging  along,  carrying  a  wo- 
jnan  on  his  back.  This  greatly  surprised  Mr.  Lee. 
Be  very  naturally  supposed  that  the  woman  was  a 
cripple,  or  had  hurt  herself  in  some  way,  so  that  she 
could  not  walk.  The  traveler  was  a  small  man,  and 
the  woman  large  and  heavy. 

Before  he  overtook  them  Mr.  Lee  began  to  cast 
about  in  his  mind  how  he  could  render  them  assist- 
ance. When  he  came  up  to  them,  lo  and  behold,  who 
should  it  be  but  the  Dutchman  and  his  wife  that  had 
been  so  affected  under  his  sermon  at  meeting !  Mr. 
Lee  rode  up  and  spoke  to  them,  and  inquired  of  the 
man  what  had  happened,  or  what  was  the  matter, 
that  he  was  carrying  his  wife. 

The  Dutchman  turned  to  Mr.  Lee  and  said,  "  lie- 
sure  you  did  tell  us  in  your  sarmon  dat  we  must  take 
up  de  cross  and  follow  de  Savior,  or  dat  we  could 
not  be  saved  or  go  to  heaven,  and  I  does  desire  to  go 
to  heaven  so  much  as  any  pody ;  and  dish  vile  id  so 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  43 

cad,  she  scoM  and  scold  all  dc  time,  and  disli  woman 
.s  de  creatcst  cross  I  have  in  dc  whole  world,  and  1 
Joes  take  her  up  and  pare  her,  for  I  must  save  ray 
soul." 

You  may  be  sure  that  Mr.  Lee  was  posed  for  once, 
but  after  a  few  moments'  reflection  he  told  the  Dutch- 
man to  put  his  wife  down,  and  he  dismounted  from 
his  horse.  He  directed  them  to  sit  down  on  a  log  by 
the  road  side.  He  held  the  reins  of  his  horse's  bridle 
and  sat  down  by  them,  took  out  his  Bible,  read  to 
them  several  passages  of  Scripture,  and  explained  and 
expounded  to  them  the  way  of  the  Lord  more  per- 
fectly. He  opened  to  them  the  nature  of  the  cross 
of  Christ,  what  it  is,  how  it  is  to  be  taken  up,  aad  how 
they  were  to  bear  that  cross ;  and  after  teaching  and 
advising  them  some  time,  he  prayed  for  them  by  the 
road  side,  left  them  deeply  affected,  mounted  his  horse, 
and  rode  on  to  his  evening  appointment. 

Long  before  Mr.  Lee  came  around  his  circuit  to  hia 
next  appointment,  the  Dutchman  and  his  scolding 
wife  were  both  powerfully  converted  to  God,  and 
when  he  came  round  he  took  them  into  the  Church. 
The  Dutchman's  wife  was  cured  of  her  scolding.  Of 
course  he  got  clear  of  this  cross.  They  lived  together 
long  and  happily,  adorning  their  profession,  and  giv- 
ing ample  evidence  that  religion  could  cure  a  scold- 
ing wife,  and  that  God  could  and  did  convert  poor 
ignorant  Dutch  people. 

The  Dutchman  often  told  his  experience  in  lore- 
feasts,  witli  thrilling  effect,  and  hardly  ever  failed  to 
melt  the  whole  congregation  into  a  flood  of  tears  ; 
and  on  one  particular  occasion  which  is  vividly  printed 
on  my  recollection,  I  believe  the  whole  congregation 
In  the  love-feast,  which  lasted  beyond  the  time  allotted 
for  such  meetings,  broke  out  into  a  loud  shout 


44  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

Thus  brother  Lee  was  the  honored  instrument  in 
the  hand  of  God  of  planting  Methodism,  amid  clouds 
of  ignorance  and  opposition,  among  the  early  settlers 
of  the  far  west.  Brother  Lee  Avitnessed  a  good  con- 
fession to  the  end.  At  an  early  period  of  his  minis- 
try he  fell  from  the  walls  of  Zion  with  the  trump  of 
God  in  his  hand,  and  has  gone  to  his  reward  in  heaven. 
Peace  to  his  memory ! 


PETER   CARTWRIGHT.  45 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE    GREAT   REVIVAL. 

1801  for  years  a  blessed  revival  of  religion 
sprean  tlirough  almost  the  entire  inhabited  parts  of 
the  wvat,  Kentucky,  Tenpessee,  the  Carolinas,  and 
many  other  parts,  especially  through  the  Cumberland 
country,  vrhich  was  so  called  from  the  Cumberland 
river,  which  headed  and  mouthed  in  Kentucky,  but 
in  its  great  bend  circled  south  through  Tennessee, 
near  Nashville.  The  Presbyterians  and  Methodists 
in  a  great  measure  united  in  this  work,  met  together, 
prayed  together,  and  preached  together. 

In  this  revival  originated  our  camp  meetings,  and 
in  both  these  denominations  they  were  held  every  year, 
and,  indeed,  have  been  ever  since,  more  or  less.  They 
would  erect  their  camps  with  logs  or  frame  them,  and 
cover  them  with  clapboards  or  shingles.  They  would 
also  erect  a  shed,  sufficiently  large  to  protect  five  thou- 
sand people  from  wind  and  rain,  and  cover  it  with 
boards  or  shingles ;  build  a  large  stand,  seat  the  shed, 
and  here  they  would  collect  together  from  forty  to  fifty 
miles  around,  sometimes  further  than  that.  Ten 
twenty,  and  sometimes  thirty  ministers,  of  differcn 
denominations,  would  come  together  and  preach  night 
and  day,  four  or  five  days  together ;  and,  indeed,  I 
have  known  these  camp  meetings  to  last  three  or  four 
weeks,  and  great  good  resulted  from  them.  I  have 
seen  more  than  a  hundred  sinners  fall  like  dead 
men  under  one  powerful  sermon,  and  I  have  seen  and 


46  A  UTOBIOGKAPH  Y   OF 

hoard  more  than  five  hundred  Christians  all  shouting 
aloud  the  high  praises  of  God  at  once;  and  I  will  ven- 
ture to  assert  that  many  happy  thousands  were  awak- 
ened and  converted  to  Gad  at  these  camp  meetings 
Some  sinners  mocked,  some  of  the  old  dry  professors 
opposed,  some  of  the  old  starched  Presbyterian 
preachers  preached  against  these  exercises,  but  still 
the  work  went  on  and  spread  almost  in  every  direc- 
tion, gathering  additional  force,  till  our  country 
seemed  all  coming  home  to  God. 

In  this  great  revival  the  Methodists  kept  moder- 
ately balanced;  for  we  had  excellent  preachers  to 
steer  the  ship  or  guide  the  flock.  J>ut  some  of  our 
members  ran  wild,  and  indulged  in  some  extrava- 
gances that  were  hard  to  control. 

The  Presbyterian  preachers  and  members,  not  being 
accustomed  to  much  noise  or  shouting,  when  they 
yielded  to  it  went  into  great  extremes  and  downright 
wildncss,  to  the  great  injury  of  the  cause  of  God. 
Their  old  preachers  licensed  a  great  many  young  men 
to  preach,  contrary  to  their  Confession  of  Faith. 
That  Confession  of  Faith  required  their  ministers  to 
believe  in  unconditional  election  and  reprobation,  and 
the  unconditional  and  final  perseverance  of  the  saints. 
But  in  this  revival  they,  almost  to  a  man,  gave  up 
these  points  of  high  Calvinism,  and  preached  a  free 
salvation  to  all  mankind.  The  Westminister  Con- 
fession required  every  man,  before  he  could  be  licensed 
to  preach,  to  have  a  liberal  education;  but  this  quali- 
fication was  dispensed  with,  and  a  great  many  fine 
men  Avere  licensed  to  preach  without  this  literary 
qualification  or  subscribing  to  those  high-toned  doc- 
trines of  Calvinism. 

This  state  of  things  produced  great  dissatisfaction 
in  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  and  messenger  after  mes 


PETER    CART  WRIUHT.  41 

sengei  was  sent  to  wait  on  the  Presbytery  to  get 
them  to  desist  from  their  erratic  course,  but  with- 
out success.  Finally  they  were  cited  to  trial  before 
the  constituted  authorities  of  the  Church.  Some 
were  censured,  some  were  suspended,  some  retraced 
heir  steps,  while  others  surrendered  their  credentials 
f  ordination,  and  the  rest  were  cut  off  from  the 
Church. 

While  in  this  amputated  condition,  they  called  a 
general  meeting  of  all  their  licentiates.  They  met 
our  presiding  elder,  J.  Page,  and  a  number  of  Meth- 
odist ministers  at  a  quarterly  meeting  in  Logan 
county,  and  proposed  to  join  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church  as  a  body;  but  our  aged  ministers  declined 
this  offer,  and  persuaded  them  to  rise  up  and  embody 
themselves  together,  and  constitute  a  Church.  They 
reluctantly  yielded  to  this  advice,  and,  in  due  time 
and  form,  constituted  what  they  denominated  the 
"Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church;"  and  in  their 
Confession  of  Faith  split,  as  they  supposed,  the  differ- 
ence between  the  prcdestinarians  and  the  Methodists, 
rejecting  a  partial  atonement  or  special  election  and 
reprobation,  but  retaining  the  doctrine  of  the  final 
unconditional  perseverance  of  the  saints. 

What  an  absurdity!  While  a  man  remains  a  sin- 
ner he  may  come,  as  a  free  agent,  to  Christ,  if  he  will, 
and  if  he  docs  not  come  his  damnation  will  be  just, 
because  he  refused  offered  mercy;  but  as  soon  as 
he  gets  converted,  his  free  agency  is  destroyed,  the 
bost  boon  of  Heaven  is  then  lost,  and  although  he  may 
backslide,  wander  away  from  Christ,  yet  he  siliall 
oe  brought  in.  He  can  not  finally  be  lost  if  he  has 
ever  been  really  converted  to  God. 

They  ur.ike  a  very  sorry  show  in  their  attempt  to 
support  this  left  foot  of  Calvinism.  But  be  it  spoken 


48  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

to  their  credit,  they  do  not  often  preach  this  doc- 
trine. They  generally  preach  Methodist  doctrine, 
and  have  been  the  means  of  doing  a  great  deal  of 
good,  and  would  have  done  much  more  if  they  had 
left  this  relic  of  John  Calvin  behind. 

In  this  revival,  usually  termed  in  the  west  the  Cum- 
berland revival,  many  joined  the  different  Churches, 
especially  the  Methodist  and  Cumberland  Presbyte- 
rians. The  Baptists  also  came  in  for  a  share  of  the 
converts,  but  not  to  any  great  extent.  Infidelity 
quailed  before  the  mighty  power  of  God,  which  was 
displayed  among  the  people.  Univorsalism  was  al- 
most driven  from  the  land.  The  predestinarians  of 
almost  all  sorts  put  forth  a  mighty  effort  to  stop  the 
work  of  God. 

Just  in  the  midst  of  our  controversies  on  the  subject 
of  the  powerful  exercises  among  the  people  under 
preaching,  a  new  exercise  broke  out  among  us,  called 
the  jerks,  which  was  overwhelming  in  its  effects  upon 
the  bodies  and  minds  of  the  people.  No  matter 
whether  they  were  saints  or  sinners,  they  would  be 
taken  under  a  warm  song  or  sermon,  and  seized  with 
a  convulsive  jerking  all  over,  which  they  could  not 
by  any  possibility  avoid,  and  the  more  they  resisted 
the  more  they  jerked.  If  they  would  not  strive 
against  it  and  pray  in  good  earnest,  the  jerking  would 
usually  abate.  I  have  seen  more  than  five  hundred 
persons  jerking  at  one  time  in  my  large  congregations 
Most  usually  persons  taken  with  the  jerks,  to  obtain 
relief,  as  they  said,  wrould  rise  up  and  dance.  Some 
would  run,  but  could  not  get  away.  Some  would  re- 
sist ;  on  such  the  jerks  were  generally  very  severe. 

To  see  those  proud  young  gentlemen  and  ycung 
ladies,  dressed  in  their  silks,  jewelry,  and  prunella, 
from  top  to  toe,  take  the  jerks,  would  often  excite  my 


PETER   CARTWRIQHT.  49 

risibilities.  The  first  jerk  or  so,  you  would  see  their 
fine  bonnets,  caps,  and  combs  fly;  and  so  sudden 
would  be  the  jerking  of  the  head  that  their  long 
loose  hair  would  crack  almost  as  loud  as  a  wagoner's 
whip. 

At  one  of  my  appointments  in  1804  there  was  a 
very  large  congregation  turned  out  to  hear  the  Ken- 
lucky  boy,  as  they  called  me.  Among  the  rest  there 
were  two  very  finely-dressed,  fashionable  young 
ladies,  attended  by  two  brothers  with  loaded  horse- 
whips. Although  the  house  was  large,  it  was  crowded. 
The  two  young  ladies,  coming  in  late,  took  their  seats 
near  where  I  stood,  and  their  two  brothers  stood  in  the 
door.  I  was  a  little  unwell,  and  I  had  a  phial  of  pep- 
permint in  my  pocket.  Before  I  commenced  preach- 
ing I  took  out  my  phial  and  swallowed  a  little  of  the 
peppermint.  While  I  was  preaching  the  congrega- 
tion was  melted  into  tears.  The  two  young  gentle- 
men moved  off  to  the  yard  fence,  and  both  the  young 
ladies  took  the  jerks,  and  they  were  greatly  mortified 
about  it.  There  was  a  great  stir  in  the  congregation. 
Some  wept,  some  shouted,  and  before  our  meeting 
closed  several  were  converted. 

As  I  dismissed  the  assembly  a  man  stepped  up  to 
me,  and  warned  me  to  be  on  my  guard,  for  he  had 
heard  the  two  brothers  swear  they  would  horsewhip 
me  when  meeting  was  out,  for  giving  their  sisters  the 
jerks.  "  Well,"  said  I,  « I  '11  see  to  that," 

I  went  out  and  said  to  the  young  men  that  I  under- 
stood they  intended  to  horsewhip  me  for  giving  their 
sisters  the  jerks.  One  replied  that  he  did.  I  under- 
took to  expostulate  with  him  on  the  absurdity  of  the 
charge  against  me,  but  he  swore  I  need  not  deny  it; 
for  he  had  seen  me  take  out  a  phial,  in  which  I  car- 
ried some  truck  that  gave  his  sisters  the  jerks.  As 
4 


50  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

quick  as  thought  it  came  into  my  mind  how  I  would 
get  clear  of  my  whipping,  and,  jerking  out  the  pep- 
permint phial,  said  I,  "  Yes ;  if  I  gave  your  sisters  the 
jerks  I  '11  give  them  to  you."  In  a  moment  I  saw  he 
was  scared.  I  moved  toward  him,  he  hacked,  I  ad- 
vanced, and  he  wheeled  and  ran,  warning  me  not  to 
come  near  him,  or  he  would  kill  me.  It  raised  the 
laugh  on  him,  and  I  escaped  my  whipping.  I  had 
the  pleasure,  before  the  year  was  out,  of  seeing  all 
four  soundly  converted  to  God,  and  I  took  them  into 
the  Church. 

While  I  am  on  this  subject  I  will  relate  a  very  seri- 
ous circumstance  which  I  knew  to  take  place  with  a 
man  who  had  the  jerks  at  a  camp  meeting,  on  what  was 
called  the  Ridge,  in  William  Magee's  congregation. 
There  was  a  great  work  of  religion  in  the  encamp 
ment.  The  jerks  were  very  prevalent.  There  was  a 
company  of  drunken  rowdies  who  came  to  interrupt 
the  meeting.  These  rowdies  were  headed  by  a  very 
large  drinking  man.  They  came  with  their  bottles 
of  whisky  in  their  pockets.  This  large  man  cursed 
the  jerks,  and  all  religion.  Shortly  afterward  he  took 
the  jerks,  and  he  started  to  run,  but  he  jerked  so 
powerfully  he  could  not  get  away.  He  halted  among 
some  saplings,  and,  although  he  was  violently  agitated, 
he  took  out  his  bottle  of  whisky,  and  swore  he  would 
drink  the  damned  jerks  to  death ;  but  he  jerked  at 
such  a  rate  he  could  not  get  the  bottle  to  his  mouth, 
though  he  tried  hard.  At  length  he  fetched  a  sudden 
jerk,  and  the  bottle  struck  a  sapling  and  was  broken 
to  pieces,  and  spilled  his  whisky  on  the  ground.  There 
was  a  great  crowd  gathered  round  him,  and  when  he 
lost  his  whisky  he  became  very  much  enraged,  and 
cursed  and  swore  very  profanely,  his  jerks  still  in- 
creasing. At  length  he  fetched  a  very  violent  jerk, 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  51 

snapped  bis  neck,  fell,  and  soon  expired,  with  his 
mouth  full  of  cursing  and  bitterness. 

I  always  looked  upon  the  jerks  as  a  judgment  sent 
from  God,  first,  to  bring  sinners  to  repentance;  and, 
secondly,  to  show  professors  that  God  could  work  with 
or  without  means,  and  that  he  could  work  over  and 
above  means,  and  do  whatsoever  seemeth  him  good, 
to  the  glory  of  his  grace  and  the  salvation  of  the 
world. 

There  is  no  doubt  in  my  mind  that,  with  weak- 
minded,  ignorant,  and  superstitious  persons,  there 
was  a  great  deal  of  sympathetic  feeling  with  many 
that  claimed  to  be  under  the  influence  of  this  jerk- 
ing exercise;  and  yet,  with  many,  it  was  perfectly 
involuntary.  It  was,  on  all  occasions,  my  practice 
to  recommend  fervent  prayer  as  a  remedy,  and  it 
almost  universally  proved  an  effectual  antidote. 

There  were  many  other  strange  and  wild  exercises 
into  which  the  subjects  of  this  revival  fell;  such,  for 
instance,  as  what  was  called  the  running,  jumping, 
barking  exercise.  The  Methodist  preachers  general- 
ly preached  against  this  extravagant  wildness.  I 
did  it  uniformly  in  my  little  ministrations,  and 
sometimes  gave  great  offense ;  but  I  feared  no  con- 
sequences when  I  felt  my  awful  responsibilities  to 
God.  From  these  wild  exercises  another  great  evil 
arose  from  the  heated  and  wild  imaginations  of  some. 
They  professed  to  fall  into  trances  and  see  visions; 
they  would  fall  at  meetings  and  sometimes  at  home, 
and  lay  apparently  powerless  and  motionless  for  days, 
sometimes  for  a  week  at  a  time,  without  food  or 
irink;  and  when  they  came  to,  they  professed  to 
nave  seen  heaven  and  hell,  to  have  seen  God, 
angels,  the  devil  and  the  damned;  they  would  proph- 
esy, and,  under  the  pretense  of  Divine  inspiration, 


52  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

predict  the  time  of  the  end  of  the  world,  and  the 
ushering  in  of  the  great  millennium. 

This  was  the  most  troublesome  delusion  of  all, 
it  made  such  an  appeal  to  the  ignorance,  supersti- 
tion, and  credulity  of  the  people,  even  saint  as  well 
as  sinner.  I  watched  this  matter  with  a  vigilant  eye. 
If  I  opposed  it,  I  would  have  to  meet  the  clamor 
of  the  multitude;  and  if  any  one  opposed  it,  these 
very  visionists  would  single  him  out,  and  denounce 
the  dreadful  judgments  of  God  against  him.  They 
would  even  set  the  very  day  that  God  was  to  burn 
the  world,  like  the  self-deceived  modern  Millerites. 
They  would  prophesy,  that  if  any  one  did  oppose 
them,  God  would  send  fire  down  from  heaven 
.and  consume  him,  like  the  blasphemous  Shakers. 
They  would  proclaim  that  they  could  heal  all  manner 
of  diseases,  and  raise  the  dead,  just  like  the  diabol- 
ical Mormons.  They  professed  to  have  converse  with 
spirits  of  the  dead  in  heaven  and  hell,  like  the  modern 
spirit-rappers.  Such  a  state  of  things  I  never  saw 
before,  and  I  hope  in  God  I  shall  never  see  again. 

I  pondered  well  the  whole  matter  in  view  of  my 
responsibilities,  searched  the  Bible  for  the  true  fulfill- 
ment of  promise  and  prophecy,  prayed  to  God  for 
light  and  Divine  aid,  and  proclaimed  open  war  against 
these  delusions.  In  the  midst  of  them  along  came 
the  Shakers,  and  Mr.  Rankin,  one  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian revival  preachers,  joined  them;  Mr.  G.  Wa1!, 
a  visionary  local  preacher  among  the  Methodists, 
joined  them ;  all  the  country  was  in  commotion. 

I  made  public  appointments  and  drew  multitudes 
together,  and  openly  showed  from  the  Scriptures  that 
these  delusions  were  false.  Some  of  these  visionary 
men  and  women  prophesied  that  God  would  kill 
me.  The  Shakers  soon  pretended  to  seal  my  damna- 


PETER    CART  W  RIGHT.  53 

tion.  But,  nothing  daunted,  for  I  knew  Him  in  whom 
I  had  believed,  I  threw  my  appointments  in  the  midst 
of  them,  and  proclaimed  to  listening  thousands  the 
more  sure  word  of  prophecy.  This  mode  of  attack 
threw  a  damper  on  these  visionary,  self-deluded,  false 
prophets,  sobered  some,  reclaimed  others,  and  staid 
the  fearful  tide  of  delusion  that  was  sweeping  over 
the  country. 

1  will  here  state  a  case  which  occurred  at  an  early 
day  in  the  state  of  Indiana,  at  a  settlement  called 
Busroe.  Many  of  the  early  emigrants  to  that  settle- 
ment were  Methodists,  Baptists,  and  Cumberland 
Presbyterians.  (The  Shaker  priests,  all  apostates 
from  the  Baptists  and  the  Cumberland  Presbyterians, 
went  over  among  them.  Many  of  them  I  was  per- 
sonally acquainted  with,  and  had  given  them  letters 
when  they  moved  from  Kentucky  to  that  new  country. 
There  were  then  no  Methodist  circuit  preachers  in 
that  region. 

There  was  an  old  brother  Collins,  a  local  preacher, 
who  withstood  these  Shakers,  and  in  private  combat 
he  was  a  full  match  for  any  of  them ;  but  he  was  not 
eloquent  in  public  debate,  and  hence  the  Shaker 
priests  overcame  my  old  brother,  and  by  scores  swept 
members  of  different  Churches  away  from  their  stead 
fastness  into  the  muddy  pool  of  Shakerism. 

The  few  who  remained  steadfast  sent  to  Kentucky 
for  me,  praying  me  to  come  and  help  them.  I  sent 
an  appointment,  with  an  invitation  to  meet  any  or 
all  of  the  Shaker  priests  in  public  debate ;  but  instead 
of  meeting  me,  they  appointed  a  meeting  in  opposi- 
tion, and  warned  the  believers,  as  they  called  them, 
to  keep  away  from  my  meeting ;  but,  from  our  for- 
mer acquaintance  and  intimate  friendship,  many  of 
them  came  to  hear  me.  I  preached  to  a  vast  crowd 


64  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

for  about  three  hours,  and  I  verily  believe  God  helped 
me.  The  very  foundations  of  every  Shaker  present 
were  shaken  from  under  him.  They  then  besought 
me  to  go  to  the  Shaker  meeting  that  night.  I  went, 
and  when  I  got  there  we  had  a  great  crowd.  I  pro- 
posed to  them  to  have  a  debate,  and  they  dared  net 
refuse.  The  terms  were  these  :  A  local  preacher  I 
had  with  me  was  to  open  the  debate;  then  one  or  all 
of  their  preachers,  if  they  chose,  were  to  follow,  and 
I  was  to  bring  up  the  rear.  My  preacher  opened 
the  debate  by  merely  stating  the  points  of  difference. 
Mr.  Brayelton  followed,  and,  instead  of  argument,  he 
turned  every  thing  into  abuse  and  insulting  slander. 
Then  he  closed,  and  Mr.  Gill  rose,  but,  instead  of  ar- 
gument, he  uttered  a  few  words  of  personal  abuse, 
and  then  called  on  all  the  Shakers  to  meet  him  a  few 
minutes  in  the  yard,  talk  a  little,  and  then  disperse. 

Our  debate  was  out  in  the  open  air,  at  the  end  of 
a  cabin.  I  rose,  called  them  to  order,  and  stated 
that  it  was  fairly  agreed  by  these  Shaker  priests  that 
[  should  bring  up  the  rear,  or  close  the  argument. 
I  stated  that  it  was  cowardly  to  run ;  that  if  1  was 
the  devil  himself,  and  they  were  right,  I  could  not 
hurt  them.  I  got  the  most  of  them  to  take  their 
seats  and  hear  me.  Mr.  Gill  gathered  a  little  band, 
and  he  and  they  left.  They  had  told  the  people  in 
the  day  that  if  I  continued  to  oppose  them,  God 
would  make  an  example  of  me,  and  send  fire  from 
heaven  and  consume  me.  When  I  rose  to  reply  I 
felt  a  divine  sense  of  the  approbation  of  God,  and 
that  he  would  give  me  success. 

I  addressed  the  multitude  about  three  hours,  and 
when  I  closed  my  argument  I  opened  the  door  of  the 
Church,  and  invited  all  that  would  renounce  Shaker- 
isin  to  come  and  give  me  their  hand.  Forty-seven 


PE1BR 

Came  forward,  and  then  and  there  openly  renounced 
the  dreadful  delusion.  The  next  day  I  followed  those 
that  fled;  and  the  next  day  I  went  from  cabin  to  cabin, 
taking  the  names  of  those  that  returned  to  the  solid 
foundation  of  truth,  and  my  number  rose  to  cighty- 
eeven.  I  then  organized  them  into  a  regular  sooiet1 , 
and  the  next  fall  had  a  preacher  sent  to  them.  Ai  d 
perhaps  this  victory  may  be  considered  among  the 
first-fruits  of  Methodism  in  that  part  of  this  new 
country.  This  was  in  1808. 

At  this  meeting  I  collected,  as  well  as  I  could, 
the  names  and  places  where  it  was  supposed  they 
wanted  Methodist  preaching.  I  made  out  and  re- 
turned a  kind  of  plan  for  a  circuit,  carried  it  to  con- 
ference, and  they  were  temporarily  supplied  by  the 
presiding  elder  in  1809  and  1810.  In  1811  the  cir- 
cuit was  called  St.  Vincennes,  and  was  attached  to  the 
Cumberland  district,  and  Thomas  Stilwell  appointed 
the  preacher  in  charge. 


66  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 


CHAPTER  VI. 

EXHORTING  AND  FIRST  PREACHING. 

I  WILL  now  resume  my  personal  narrative.  I  went 
on  enjoying  great  comfort  and  peace.  I  attended 
several  camp  meetings  among  the  Methodists  and 
Presbyterians.  At  all  of  them  there  were  many 
souls  converted  to  God.  At  one  of  these  camp 
meetings  something  like  the  following  incident  oc- 
curred : 

There  was  a  great  stir  of  religion  in  the  crowded 
congregation  that  attended.  Many  opposed  the  work, 

and  among  the  rest  9,  Mr.  D ,  who  called  himself 

a  Jew.  He  was  tolerably  smart,  and  seemed  to  take 
great  delight  in  opposing  the  Christian  religion.  In 
the  intermissions,  the  young  men  and  boys  of  us,  who 
professed  religion,  would  retire  to  the  woods  and  hold 
prayer  meetings;  and  if  we  knew  of  any  boys  that 
were  seeking  religion,  we  would  take  them  along  and 
pray  for  them.  Many  of  them  obtained  religion  in 
these  praying  circles,  and  raise  loud  shouts  of  praise 
to  God,  in  which  those  of  us  that  were  religious  would 
join. 

One  evening  a  large  company  of  us  retired  for 
prayer.  In  the  midst  of  our  little  meeting  this 
Jew  appeared,  and  he  desired  to  know  what  we 
were  about.  Well,  I  told  him.  He  said  it  was  all 
wrong,  that  it  was  idolatry  to  pray  to  Jesus  Christ, 
and  that  God  did  not  nOr  would  he  answer  such 
prayers.  I  soon  saw  his  object  was  to  get  us  into  de- 


CAfctWRiGHf .  67 

bate  and  break  up  our  prayer  meeting.  I  asked  him, 
**  Do  you  really  believe  there  is  a  God?" 

•  Yes,  I  do,"  said  he. 

"Do  you  believe  that  God  will  hear  your  prayers?" 

"Yes,"  said  he. 

**  Do  you  really  believe  that  this  work  among  us  is 
wrong?" 

lie  answered,  "Yes." 

"Well  now,  my  dear  sir,"  said  I,  "let  us  test  this 
matter.  If  you  are  in  earnest,  get  down  here  and 
pray  to  God  to  stop  this  work,  and  if  it  is  wrong,  he 
will  answer  your  petition  and  stop  it;  if  it  is  not 
wrong,  all  hell  can  not  stop  it." 

The  rest  of  our  company  seeing  me  so  hold  took 
courage.  The  Jew  hesitated.  I  said, "  Get  down  in- 
stantly and  pray;  for  if  we  are  wrong  we  want  to 
know  it."  After  still  lingering  and  showing  unmis- 
takable signs  of  his  unwillingness,  I  rallied  him  again. 
Slowly  he  kneeled,  cleared  his  throat,  and  coughed. 
I  said,  "Now,  boys,  pray  with  all  your  might  that  God 
may  answer  by  fire." 

Our  Jew  began,  and  said,  tremblingly,  "0  Lord 
God  Almighty,"  and  coughed  again,  cleared  his  throat, 
and  started  again,  repeating  the  same  words.  We 
saw  his  evident  confusion,  and  we  simultaneously 
prayed  out  aloud  at  the  top  of  our  voices.  The  Jew 
leaped  up  and  started  off,  and  we  raised  the  shout, 
and  had  a  glorious  time.  Several  of  our  mourners 
were  converted,  and  we  all  rose  and  started  into  camp 
at  the  top  of  our  sp.'ed,  shouting,  having,  as  we  firmly 
believed,  obtained  a  signal  victory  over  the  devil  and 
the  Jew. 

In  1802  William  M'Kendree  was  presiding  elder 
of  Kentucky  district.  John  Page'and  Thomas  Wil- 
kerson  were  appointed  to  the  Cumberland  circuit. 


68  AUTOfctOGfcAPHf   OP 

The  conference  this  fall  was  held  at  Strother's  Meet- 
ing-House,  Tennessee.  This  was  the  first  time  I  saw 
Bishop  Asbury,  that  great,  devoted  man  of  God. 
Here  the  Cumberland  district  was  formed,  and  John 
Page  appointed  presiding  elder.  The  name  of  Cum- 
berland circuit  was  changed  into  Red  River  circuit, 
arid  Jesse  Walker  was  appointed  to  ride  it.  This  was 
the  circuit  on  which  I  lived. 

The  membership  of  the  Western  conference  this 
year  numbered  seven  thousand,  two  hundred  and  one ; 
the  traveling  preachers  numbered  twenty-seven,  pro- 
bationers and  all. 

At  a  quarterly  meeting  held  in  the  spring  of  this 
year,  1802,  Jesse  Walker,  our  preacher  in  charge, 
came  to  me  and  handed  me  a  small  slip  of  paper,  with 
these  words  written  on  it: 

"  Peter  Cartwright  is  hereby  permitted  to  exercise 

his  gifts  as  an  exhorter  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 

Church,  so  long  as  his  practice  is  agreeable  to  the 

Gospel.     Signed  in  behalf  of  the  society  at  Ebcnezer. 

"JESSE  WALKER,  A.  P. 

"  May,  1802." 

I  was  very  much  surprised.  I  had  not  been  talked 
to  by  the  preacher,  nor  had  I  formally  attempted  to 
exhort.  It  is  true,  in  class  and  other  meetings,  when 
my  soul  was  filled  with  the  love  of  God,  I  would  mount 
a  bench  and  exhort  with  all  the  power  I  had ;  and  it 
is  also  true  that  my  mind  had  been  deeply  exercised 
about  exhorting  and  preaching  too.  I  told  brother 
Walker  I  did  not  want  license  to  exhort ;  that  if  I  did 
not  feel  happy  I  could  not  exhort,  but  if  my  soul  got 
happy  I  felt  that  I  had  license  enough.  lie  urged 
me  to  keep  the  license,  alleging  that  it  was  the  more 
orderly  way,  and  I  yielded  to  his  advice. 

To  show  how  matters  were  done  up  in  those  earlj 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  & 

days  of  Methodism,  I  will  here  state  that  this  permi 
to  exhort  was  all  the  license  I  ever  received  from  the 
Church  to  preach  till  I  received  my  parchment  of 
ordination. 

The  fall  of  this  year  my  father  moved  from  Logan 
county  down  toward  the  mouth  of  the  Cumberland 
river,  into  what  was  called  Lewiston  county.  This 
was  a  new  country,  and  at  least  eighty  miles  from  any 
circuit.  There  was  no  regular  circuit,  and  no  organ- 
ized classes ;  but  there  were  a  good  many  scattering 
members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  through 
that  region  of  country.  I  applied  to  brother  Page, 
our  presiding  elder,  for  a  letter  for  myself,  my  mother, 
and  one  sister,  which  he  gave  us.  On  examination, 
I  found  that  mine  contained  a  "  Benjamin's  mess."  It 
not  only  stated  my  membership  and  authority  to  ex- 
hort, but  it  gave  me  authority  to  travel  through  all 
that  destitute  region,  hold  meetings,  organize  classes, 
and,  in  a  word,  to  form  a  circuit,  and  meet  him  the 
next  fall  at  the  fourth  quarterly  meeting  of  the  Red 
River  circuit,  with  a  plan  of  a  new  circuit,  number 
of  members,  names  of  preachers,  if  any,  exhorters, 
class-leaders,  etc.,  etc.,  etc.  I  am  sorry  I  did  not 
preserve  the  document ;  for  surely,  all  things  consid- 
ered, it  would  be  a  curiosity  to  educated  and  refined 
Methodists  at  this  day. 

I  felt  bad  on  the  reception  of  this  paper,  and  told 
brother  Page  I  did  not  want  to  take  it,  for  I  saw 
through  the  solemn  responsibilities  it  rolled  upon  me 
I  told  him  just  to  give  me  a  simple  letter  of  member 
ship  ;  that,  although  I  did  think  at  times  that  it  was 
my  dutv  to  preach,  I  had  little  education,  and  that  it 
was  my  intention  to  go  to  school  the  next  year.  He 
then  told  me  that  this  was  the  very  best  school  or 
college  that  I  could  find  between  heaven  and  earth, 


60 

but  advised  me,  when  my  father  got  settled  dowi, 
there,  if  I  could  find  a  good  moral  school  with  a  good 
teacner,  to  go  to  it  through  the  winter ;  then,  in  the 
spring  and  summer,  form  the  circuit,  and  do  the  best 

could. 

Shortly  after  my  father  settled  himself,  I  inquired 
for  a  good  teacher  and  school,  and  found  that  there 
was  one  a  few  miles  oft',  taught  by  a  well-educated 
teacher,  a  Seceder  minister,  who  had  finished  his 
education  in  Lexington,  Ky.,  under  a  Mr.  Rankin. 
I  went  and  entered  as  a  scholar,  and  boarded  with  a 
fine  old  Methodist  man,  close  by.  This  school  was 
called  Brown's  Academy.  He  taught  all  the  branches 
of  a  common  English  education,  also  the  dead  lan- 
guages. I  now  thought  Providence  had  opened  my 
way  to  obtain  a  good  education,  which  I  had  so  long 
desired,  arid  of  which  I  had  been  deprived  without 
remedy.  I  entered  the  school,  and  was  making  very 
rapid  progress. 

The  brother  with  whom  I  boarded,  being  a  zealous 
man  of  God,  insisted  that  we  should  hold  meetings  on 
Sundays  and  in  the  evenings.  To  this  I  consented. 
We  held  prayer  meetings  on  evenings,  and  Sundays  I 
attempted  to  exhort  the  large  congregations  that  at- 
tended. We  soon  collected  a  small  class  from  the 
scattered  Methodists  around,  had  a  few  conversions, 
and  I  began  to  think  that  God  had  wonderfully  openeu 
my  way  before  me.  But  soon  a  storm  of  persecution 
arose.  My  teacher  was  a  very  bigoted  Seceder,  ami 
I  believe  he  hated  the  Methodists  more  than  he  hated 
the  devil.  I  know  he  hated  them  worse  than  the  bot- 
tle, for  he  would  get  drunk  at  times. 

There  was  a  large  class  of  young  men  in  school 
about  Ky  age,  arid  they  were  very  wicked  and  pro- 
fane. I  saw  my  perilous  condition,  anl  rut  myself 


PETER   CARTWRIGHT.  61 

under  strong  restraints,  so  that  I  should  give  no  one 
aoy  just  offense.  My  teacher  would  try  to  draw  me 
into  debate,  but  this  I  avoided.  The  young  men  set 
themselves  to  play  tricks  and  start  false  reports  on 
me,  by  way  of  diversion  called  me  the  Methodist 
preacher.  Teacher  and  all  would  do  this.  I  told  Mr. 
Brown  and  all  the  rest  that  I  was  no  preacher,  but 
that  I  wished  I  was  a  good  one.  At  length  two  of 
these  young  students  fixed  a  plan  to  duck  me  in  the 
creek  that  ran  hard  by.  There  was  a  very  beautiful 
grassy  plat  of  ground  right  on  the  bank  of  the  creek, 
in  a  retired  spot.  The  bank  was  about  seven  feet  per- 
pendicular, and  there  was  a  deep  hole  of  water  right 
opposite  in  which  the  water  was  ten  feet  deep.  They 
decoyed  me  to  this  place  under  the  pretense  that  they 
wanted  me  to  pray  for  them,  pretending  to  be  in  great 
distress  on  account  of  their  sins.  I  was  suspicious, 
but  thought  if  they  were  sincere  it  would  be  wrong  to 
refuse  them.  So,  putting  myself  on  my  guard  as  best 
I  could,  I  went  with  them,  not  knowing  their  plan. 
When  we  came  to  the  bank  of  the  creek  they  both 
seized  me,  intending  to  throw  me  over  the  perpen- 
dicular bank  into  the  deep  water.  As  quick  as 
thought  I  jerked  loose  from  one,  and  gave  the  other  a 
sudden  flirt  over  the  bank  into  the  stream.  The  other 
and  I  clinched,  and,  being  nearly  equal  in  strength,  a 
hard  tussle  ensued.  In  the  scuffle  we  fell  to  the 
ground,  and  I  rolled  over  toward  the  precipice,  hold- 
ing him  fast,  till  at  length  into  the  deep  hole  we  both 
went,  and  then  had  to  swim  out. 

Although  this  to  me  was  an  unpleasant  affair,  yet 
there  was  no  shouting  over  me ;  for  if  I  had  got  wet, 
I  had  ducked  both  of  them.  I  bore  all  these  things 
for  some  time  patiently,  but.  my  difficulties  increas- 
ing, I  complained  to  Mr.  Brown,  the  teacher.  He 


62  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

would  do  nothing  to  bring  tilings  right.  I  then  left 
the  school,  deeply  regretting  that  I  was  thereby  de- 
prived of  the  privilege  of  finishing  my  education.  J 
then  prepared  myself,  and  started  out  to  form  a  kind 
of  circuit,  and  gather  up  scattered  members  and  organ- 
ize classes.  I  had  much  opposition  in  some  places,  but 
in  others  was  kindly  received.  We  had  some  very 
powerful  displays  of  Divine  grace,  a  goodly  number 
obtained  religion,  and  I  received  about  seventy  into 
society,  appointed  leaders,  met  classes,  sung,  prayed, 
and  exhorted,  and,  under  the  circumstances,  did  the 
best  I  knew  how. 

Here  I  found  the  celebrated  James  Axley,  and  took 
him  into  the  Church.  Peace  to  his  memory!  He 
was  in  after  years  favorably  known  as  a  powerful  and 
successful  traveling  preacher.  He  was  a  great  and 
good  man  of  God.  He  married,  located,  and  long 
since  went  to  his  reward. 

In  the  fall  of  this  year,  1803,  I  met  brothers  Page 
and  Walker,  reported  my  success,  and  the  plan  of  the 
circuit.  It  was  called  Livingston  circuit,  and  Jesse 
Walker  was  appointed  to  it,  and  "traveled  it  in  1804 
and  1805.  The  increase  of  members  this  year  was 
over  nine  thousand  throughout  the  connection.  In 
the  Western  conference  the  increase  was  fifteen  hun- 
dred. The  number  of  traveling  preachers  was  about 
thirty-five.  There  were  four  presiding-eldcr  districts 
in  the  Western  conference:  Ilolston,  Cumberland, 
Kentucky,  and  Ohio.  Brother  Page  located,  and 
Lewis  Garrett  succeeded  him  on  the  Cumberland  dis- 
trict. The  Red  River  circuit,  in  this  district,  was  a 
very  large  one.  It  had  but  one  preacher  appointed 
to  it,  namely,  Ralph  Lotspeich. 

Brother  Garrett,  the  new  elder,  called  on  me  at  my 
father's,  and  urged  me  to  go  on  :his  circuit  with  brother 


PETER   CART  WRIGHT.  68 

Lotspeich.  My  father  was  unwilling,  but  my  mother 
urged  me  to  go,  and  finally  prevailed.  This  was  in 
October,  1803,  when  I  was  a  little  over  eighteen  years 
of  age.  I  had  a  hard  struggle  to  give  my  consent, 
and  although  I  thought  it  my  duty  to  preach,  yet  I 
thought  I  could  do  this  and  not  throw  myself  into 
the  ranks  as  a  circuit  preacher,  when  I  was  liable  to 
be  sent  from  Grcenbrier  to  Natchez;  no  members 
hardly  to  support  a  preacher,  the  Discipline  only 
allowing  a  single  man  eighty  dollars,  and  in  nino 
cases  out  of  ten  he  could  not  get  half  of  that  amount. 
These  were  times  that  tried  men's  souls  and  bodies 
too. 

At  last  I  literally  gave  up  the  world,  and  started, 
bidding  farewell  to  father  and  mother,  brothers  and 
sisters,  and  met  brother  Lotspeich  at  an  appointment 
in  Logan  county.  He  told  me  I  must  preach  that 
night.  This  I  had  never  done;  mine  was  an  exhort- 
er's  dispensation.  I  tried  to  beg  off,  but  he  urged 
me  to  make  the  effort.  I  went  out  and  prayed  fer- 
vently for  aid  from  heaven.  All  at  once  it  seemed  to 
me  as  if  I  could  never  preach  at  all,  but  I  struggled 
in  prayer.  At  length  I  asked  God,  if  he  had  called 
me  to  preach,  to  give  me  aid  that  night,  and  give  me 
one  soul,  that  is,  convert  one  soul  under  my  preaching, 
as  evidence  that  I  was  called  to  this  work. 

I  went  into  the  house,  took  my  stand,  gave  out  » 
hjmn,  sang,  and  prayed.  I  then  rose,  gave  them  for  a 
text  Isaiah  xxvi,  4:  "Trust  ye  in  the  Lord  forever:  for 
in  the  Lord  Jehovah  is  everlasting  strength."  The  Lord 
gave  light,  liberty,  and  power;  the  congregation  was 
melted  into  tears.  There  was  present  a  professed  in- 
fidel. The  word  reached  his  heart  by  the  Eternal 
Spirit.  He  was  powerfully  convicted,  and,  as  I  be- 
lieve, soundly  converted  to  God  that  night,  and  joined 


64  AUTOBIOGRAIMIYOF 

the  Church,  and  afterward  became  a  useful  member 
of  the  same. 

I  traveled  on  this  circuit  one  quarter,  took  twenty- 
five  into  the  Church,  and  at  the  end  of  three  months 
received  six  dollars.  •  The  health  of  brother  Crutch- 
field,  who  was  on  the  Waynesville  circuit,  having 
failed,  he  retired  from  labor,  and  brother  Garrett 
placed  me  on  that  circuit  in  his  place,  and  put  on 
the  circuit  with  me  Thomas  Lasley,  a  fine  young 
man,  the  son  of  an  old  local  preacher  who  lived  in 
Green  county. 

Our  circuit  was  very  large,  reaching  from  the 
north  of  Green  river  to  the  Cumberland  river,  and 
south  of  said  river  into  the  state  of  Tennessee.  Here 
was  a  vast  field  to  work  in ;  our  rides  were  long,  our 
appointments  few  and  far  between.  There  were  a 
great  many  Baptists  in  the  bounds  of  the  circuit,  and 
among  them  were  over  thirty  preachers,  some  of 
whom  were  said  to  be  very  talented.  In  the  four 
weeks  that  it  took  us  to  go  round  the  circuit,  we  had 
but  two  days'  rest,  and  often  we  preached  every  day 
and  every  night,  and  although  in  my  nineteenth  year, 
I  was  nearly  beardless,  and  cut  two  of  my  back  jaw 
teeth  this  year.  Hence  they  called  me  the  boy 
preacher,  and  a  great  many  flocked  out  to  hear  the 
boy.  A  revival  broke  out  in  many  neighborhoods, 
and  scores  of  souls  were  converted  to  God  and  joined 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church;  but  there  was  also 
considerable  persecution. 

We  had  a  preaching-place  in  what,  at  that  early 
day,  was  called  Stockton  Valley.  There  were  sev- 
eral members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
scattered  around  in  the  neighborhood,  but  no  organ- 
ized class.  The  Baptists,  some  years  before,  had  a 
society  here,  and  had  built  a  log  meeting-house, 


PETER   CARTWRIGHT.  65 

which  was  very  common  at  an  early  day  in  the  west. 
It  was  covered  with  boards.  The  Baptists  flourished 
here  for  a  considerable  time,  and  they  had  enjoyed 
regular  monthly  preaching;  but  the  society  had  near- 
ly died  out,  and  the  preaching  had  been  withdrawn 
tor  several  years.  The  house  was  old  and  out  of  re- 
pair. As  I  passed  round  my  circuit,  I  was  requested 
to  preach  a  funeral  sermon  at  this  old  church. 
Accordingly,  I  left  an  appointment  on  a  Sabbath. 
When  I  came  there  was  a  very  large  congregation. 
While  I  was  preaching  the  power  of  God  feH  on  the 
assembly,  aud  there  was  an  awful  shaking  among 
the  dry  bones.  Several  fell  to  the  floor  and  cried  for 
mercy. 

The  people  besought  me  to  preach  again  at  night 
I  gave  out  an  appointment  accordingly,  and  having 
several  days'  rest,  owing  to  a  new  arrangement  in 
the  circuit,  I  kept  up  the  meeting  night  and  day  for 
some  time,  and  at  every  coming  together  we  had  a 
gracious  work.  Many  obtained  religion,  and  great 
was  the  joy  of  the  people.  There  were  twenty-three 
very  clear  and  sound  conversions.  As  a  matter  of 
cuurse  they  felt  a  great  love  to  me,  whom  they  aD 
claimed  as  the  instrument,  in  the  hand  of  God,  of 
their  conversion.  I  was  young  and  inexperienced  in 
doctrine,  and  especially  was  I  unacquainted  with  the 
proselyting  tricks  of  those  that  held  to  exclusive  im- 
mersion as  the  mode,  and  the  only  mode,  of  baptism. 
I  believe  if  I  had  opened  the  doors  of  the  Church  then, 
all  of  them  would  have  joined  the  Methodist  Church, 
but  I  thought  I  would  give  them  time  to  inform 
themselves.  Accordingly,  I  told  them  that  when  I 
came  again  I  would  explain  our  rules  and  open  the 
doors  of  the  Church,  and  then  they  could  join  us  if 
they  liked  our  rules  and  doctrines.  In  the  mean 
5 


66  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

time  I  left  them  some  copies  of  our  Discipline  to 
react 

After  doing  this  I  started  on  my  circuit  round ;  and 
although  the  Baptist  preachers  had  left  this  place, 
without  preaching  in  it  for  years,  yet,  in  a  few  days 
after  I  was  gone,  there  were  sent  on  appointments 
for  the  next  Sabbath  three  of  the  Baptist  preachers, 
and  they  came  on,  and  all  three  preached  as  their 
custom  was,  and  they  all  opened  with  the  cry  of  "  Wa- 
ter, water ;  you  must  follow  your  Lord  down  into  the 
water."  They  then  appointed  what  they  called  a 
union  meeting  there,  to  commence  the  next  Friday 
and  hold  over  Sabbath;  and  although  I  have  lived 
long  and  studied  hard,  I  have  never  to  this  day  found 
out  what  a  Baptist  means  by  a  union  meeting.  But 
to  return.  The  few  scattered  Methodists  in  the  neigh- 
borhood took  the  alarm,  for  fear  these  preachers  would 
run  my  converts  into  the  water  before  I  would  come 
round,  and  they  dispatched  an  old  exhorter  after  me, 
saying  I  must  come  immediately,  or  my  converts 
would  all  be  ducked.  I  had  appointments  out  ahead, 
and  1  told  the  old  exhorter  if  I  went  he  must  go  on 
and  fill  my  appointments,  to  which  he  readily  agreed. 
So  back  I  came  on  Friday  to  the  commencement  of 
i^^ir  union  meeting.  Two  of  them  preached,  but 
they  [  3'd.  no  attention  to  me  at  all.  As  they  had  no 
meeting  at  .;;<rht,  I  gave  out  an  appointment  for  night 

at  S 's,  Esij.  lie  and  his  wife  were  two  of  my 

converts,  and  kind  01"  Naders  in  the  neighborhood. 
The  people  flocked  out,  anu  we  had  a  good  meeting 
and  two  conversions. 

Next  day  we  repaired  to  the  old  log  meeting-house, 
and  heard  two  more  water  sermons.  When  they 
were  done  preaching,  they  opened  the  way  for  per- 
sons to  join  the  Church  by  giving  in  their  experi- 


PETER   OARTWRIGHT.  67 

ence.  One  old  lady  rose,  and  gave  in  something  for 
an  experience  that  had  happened  about  ten  years 
before.  Then  an  old  man  rose,  and  told  a  remarkable 
dream  he  had  in  North  Carolina  twenty  years  before. 
They  were  both  accordingly  received  by  giving  them 
the  right  hand  of  fellowship.  There  was  then  a 
seeming  pause.  The  preachers  urged  the  people  to 
come  forward  and  give  in  their  experience.  0,  how 
I  felt!  I  was  afraid  that  some  one  of  my  young  con- 
verts would  break  the  way,  and  the  rest  would  then 
follow,  and  so  I  would  lose  all  my  converts.  At 
length  one  of  those  young  converts  rose,  and  gave  in 
his  experience,  claiming  me,  under  God,  as  the  in- 
strument of  his  conviction  and  conversion ;  then  an- 
other and  another,  till  twenty-three  of  them  told  their 
experience;  every  one  of  them  claiming  me,  under 
God,  as  the  instrument  of  their  salvation. 

Their  experiences  were  pronounced  good,  and  the 
right  hand  of  fellowship  was  freely  given,  and  there 
was  great  joy  in  the  camp,  but  it  was  death  in  the 
pot  to  me.  I  thought  I  could  not  bear  up  under  it. 
I  was  sitting  thinking  what  I  would  do.  I  am  bereft 
of  my  children,  and  what  have  I  left?  Just  behind 
me  sat  a  very  intelligent  lady,  who  had  long  been  a 
member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  About 
the  time  tbey  were  done  giving  the  right  hand  uf  fel- 
lowship and  rejoicing  over  my  stolen  children,  a 
thought  struck  my  mind  very  forcibly  to  give  in  my 
experience,  and  act  as  though  I  intended  to  join  the 
Jiaptist  Church.  It  may  be  that  I  can  yet  save  them. 
i  rose  up,  and  gave  in  my  experience;  they  gave 
me  the  right  hand  of  fellowship,  and  then  there  was 
great  rejoicing  over  the  Methodist  preaching  boy. 

Just  as  I  sat  down  I  felt  some  one  touch  me  on  the 
shoulder.  I  turned,  and  as  I  looked  round  I  met  the 


68  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

eyes  of  my  intelligent  Methodist  sister,  and  the  large 
tears  were  coursing  down  her  cheeks  and  dropping 
off  her  chin. 

"0,  brother,"  said  she,  in  a  subdued  tone,  "are 
jou  going  to  leave  us?" 

I  replied  to  her,  "Dear  sister,  fear  not;  I  know 
what  I  am  about.  Pray  hard.  I  hope  to  retake  my 
children  yet."  And  though  she  did  not  understand 
my  plan,  yet  my  reply  seemed  to  quiet  her  fears. 

There  if  as  a  fine  creek  running  near  the  old  church. 
The  preachers  directed  us  all  to  appear  next  morn- 
ing at  nine  o'clock,  with  a  change  of  apparel,  to  be 
baptized. 

I  held  meeting  again  that  night,  and  had  a  good 
time.  My  situation  was  a  critical  one.  I  had  no 
one  to  advibe  with.  I  dared  not  tell  any  one  what  I 
was  going  to  do,  for  fear  my  plan  would  out  and  my 
object  be  defeated.  I  rose  early  next  morning,  re- 
tired to  the  woods,  and  if  ever  I  asked  God  in  good 
earnest  for  help  it  was  then. 

Brother  and  sister  S ,  with  whom  I  staid, 

prepared  a  change  of  apparcd,  in  order  to  baptism. 
At  the  appointed  hour  we  all  met  at  the  creek,  but  I 
took  no  change  uf  apparel.  I  had  been  baptized, 
and  I  did  not  intend  to  abjure  my  baptism.  But  1 
kept  this  all  to  myself.  There  was  a  great  crowd  out 
to  see  us  immersed.  My  twenty-three  young  con- 
verts and  the  two  old,  dry  dreamers  that  first  gave  in 
their  experi  ince,  were  all  dressed  and  ready  for  the 
performance  of  what  they  considered  to  be  their 
Christian  duty.  The  preachers  appeared.  One  of 
them  sang  and  prayed,  then  gave  us  an  exhortation, 
and  bade  us  come  forward.  I  knew  all  the  time  that 
it  was  all  important  to  my  success  that  I  should  present 
myself  first.  Accordingly  I  stepped  forward,  and  said, 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  69 

"  Brother  M " — who  was  the  preacher  and  ad- 
ministrator— "  I  wish  to  join  the  Baptist  Church  if  I 
can  come  in  with  a  good  conscience.  I  have  been 
baptized,  and  my  conscience  is  perfectly  satisfied 
with  it,  and  I  can  not  submit  to  be  rebaptized.  Can 
I  come  into  your  Church  on  these  terms?" 

The  position  I  occupied  startled  the  preacher. 

"When  were  you  baptized?"  he  asked. 

"Years  gone  by,"  I  replied. 

"But  how  was  it  done?  Who  baptized  you?" 
was  the  next  inquiry. 

"  One  of  the  best  preachers  the  Lord  ever  made." 

"Was  it  done  by  sprinkling?" 

"Yes,  sir." 

"  That  is  no  baptism  at  all." 

I  replied,  "  The  Scriptures  say  that  baptism  is  not 
the  putting  away  the  filth  of  the  flesh,  but  the  an- 
swer of  a  good  conscience,  and  my  conscience  is  per- 
fectly satisfied  with  my  baptism,  and  your  conscience 
has  nothing  to  do  with  it." 

"Well,"  said  he,  "it  is  contrary  to  our  faith  and 
order  to  let  you  come  into  the  Baptist  Church  in  that 
way.  We  can  not  do  it." 

"Brother  M ,"  said  I,  "your  faith  and  order 

must  be  wrong.  The  Church  has  heard  my  experi- 
ence and  pronounced  it  good;  and  you  believe  that 
I  am  a  Christian,  and  can  not  fall  away  so  as  to  be 
finally  lost.  What  am  I  to  do?  Are  you  going  to 
keep  me  out  of  the  Church,  bleating  round  the  walls 
like  a  lost  sheep  in  a  gang  by  myself?  Brother 

M ,  you  must  receive  me  into  the  Church.  I 

have  fully  made  up  my  mind  to  join  you  on  these 
terms;  now,  will  you  let  me  into  the  Church?" 

Our  preacher  by  this  time  had  evidently  lost  his 
patience,  and  very  sharply  bid  me  stand  away,  and 


70  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

not  detain  others.  It  was  an  intensely-thrilling  mo- 
ment with  me.  I  cast  a  look  around  on  the  crowd, 
and  saw  they  were  enlisted  in  my  favor.  I  cast  a 
wistful  eye  on  the  young  converts ;  their  eyes  met 
mine  most  sympathetically,  and  many  of  them  were 
weeping,  they  were  so  deeply  affected.  They  all  in- 
voluntarily seemed  to  move  toward  me,  and  their  looks 
plainly  spoke  in  my  favor.  It  was  an  awful  moment. 
0,  how  I  felt!  Avho  can  describe  my  feelings  ? 

I  stepped  aside.     Brother  S stood  next  to  the 

preacher,  dressed  ready  for  baptism ;  his  wife  was  also 
dressed,  and  leaning  on  her  husband's  arm.  Brother 
S said: 

"Brother  M ,  are  you  going  to  reject  brother 

Cartwright,  and  not  receive  him  into  the  Church?" 

"  I  can  not  receive  him,"  said  brother  M . 

"Well,"  said  brother  S ,  "if  brother  Cart- 
wright,  who  has  been  the  means,  in  the  hand  of  God, 
of  my  conversion,  and  the  saving  of  so  many  precious 
souls,  can  not  come  into  the  Church,  I  can  not  and  will 
not  join  it."  "Nor  I,"  said  his  wife;  "Nor  I," 
"Nor  I;"  and  thus  it  went  round,  till  every  one  of 
my  twenty-three  young  converts  filed  off,  and  gath- 
ered around  me.  "That's  right,  brethren,"  said  I, 
"stand  by  me,  and  'don't  leave  me;  the  Lcrd  will 
bring  all  right!" 

Well,  the  two  old  dreamers  were  baptized,  and  then 
the  preachers  urged  the  rest  to  come ;  but  all  in  vain. 
Now,  my  dear  reader,  just  imagine,  if  you  can,  how  I 
felt.  I  had  a  great  mind  to  shout  right  out,  and  should 
have  done  so,  but  forbearance,  at  that  time  at  least, 
was  a  virtue. 

From  the  creek  we  repaired  to  the  old  log  church. 
Three  of  their  ministers  preached;  and  you  may  de- 
pend on  it  I  got  a  large  share  of  abuse  They  com- 


PETER    CARTWRTGHT.  71 

pared  me  to  the  Pharisees  of  old,  for  they  said  I  would 
not  go  in  myself,  and  those  that  would  go  in  I  had 
prevented  ;  but  I  bore  it  as  best  I  could.  They  stated 
that  in  all  probability  these  souls  that  I  had  hindered 
would  be  lost,  and  if  so,  their  damnation  would  be 
laid  to  me;  but  this  did  not  alarm  me  much,  for  they 
had  pronounced  us  all  Christians  good  and  true,  and 
had  often  in  their  sermons  there  said  that  if  a  person 
were  really  converted  he  never  could  lose  his  religion. 
How,  then,  could  we  be  lost  ?  and  what  was  there  t<> 
alarm  us?  The  congregation  saw  the  absurdity,  and 
more  and  more  were  interested  in  my  favor. 

Next  came  on  their  communion.  There  were  some 
loose  planks  laid  across  the  benches,  and  all  the  mem- 
bers of  their  particular  faith  that  had  been  immersed 
were  invited  to  seat  themselves  on  these  planks.  I 
was  determined  to  give  them  another  downward  tilt, 
so  I  took  my  seat  with  the  communicants ;  and  some 
of  the  young  converts,  seeing  me  do  so,  seated  them- 
selves there  also.  But  when  the  deacons  came  with 
the  bread  and  wine,  they  passed  us  by.  When  they 
had  got  round,  I  rose  and  asked  for  the  bread  and 
wine  for  myself  and  the  young  converts.  This  threw 
a  difficulty  in  the  way  of  the  deacons;  however,  they 
asked  the  preacher  if  they  might  give  us  the  elements. 
The  preachers  peremptorily  forbade  it. 

I  then  said,  "  My  brethren,  you,  after  hearing  our 
experience,  pronounced  us  Christians;  and  you  say  a 
Christian  can  never  be  lost;  and  our  Savior  pro- 
nuunced  a  solemn  woe  on  those  that  offend  one  of  his 
little  ones;  now  do,  therefore,  give  us  the  bread  and 
wine!" 

One  of  the  preachers  gave  me  a-  sharp  reproof,  and 
told  me  to  be  silent.  This  treatment  enlisted  the 
sympathies  of  almost  the  entire  assembly,  and  they 


72  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

cried  out,  "  Shame !  shame !"  Just  as  the  preachei 
was  about  to  dismiss  the  congregation,  I  rose,  and 
asked  of  them  the  privilege  of  speaking  to  the  people 
fifteen  or  twenty  minutes,  to  explain  myself.  This 
they  refused.  I  said,  "  Very  well ;  I  am  in  a  free 
country,  and  know  my  rights."  He  then  dismissed 
them,  and  I  sprang  on  a  bench,  and  said  to  the  people 
that  if  they  would  meet  me  a  few  rods  from  the  church, 
and  hear  me,  I  would  make  my  defense. 

The  people  flocked  out ;  I  mounted  an  old  log,  and 
the  crowd  gathered  around  me.  I  showed  them  the 
inconsistency  of  the  Baptist  preachers,  and  laid  it  to 
them  as  well  as  my  inexperience  would  permit ;  and 
closed  by  saying  that,  as  I  and  my  children  in  the 
Gospel  could  not,  in  any  consistent  way,  be  admitted 
into  the  Baptist  Church,  I  was  now  determined  to 
organize  a  Methodist  Church.  I  explained  our  rules, 
and  invited  all  that  were  willing  to  join  us  to  come 
forward,  and  give  me  their  hands  and  names.  Twenty - 
"•even  came  forward;  all  of  my  twenty-three  young 
converts,  and  four  others ;  and  before  the  year  ended, 
we  took  into  the  Church  there  seventy-seven  mem- 
bers, but  my  Baptist  friends  blowed  almost  entirely 
out.  I  was  greatly  encouraged  to  go  on,  and  do  the 
)est  I  could. 

This  year,  1804,  in  the  Western  conference,  there 
were  9,600  members;  our  increase  was  2,400.  The 
number  of  traveling  preachers  was  thirty-six.  Our 
annual  conference  this  fall  was  held  in  October,  a 
Mount  Gerizim,  in  Kentucky.  Our  annual  confer 
snces  in  those  days  were  universally  held  with  closed 
doors,  none  but  members  of  the  conference,  or  visiting 
-nembers  from  other  annual  conferences,  being  per- 
mitted to  occupy  seats  in  the  body.  At  this  confer- 
ence Bishop  Asbury  presided. 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  73 

At  the  close  of  ray  labors  on  Waynesville  circuit, 
I  was  recommended  to  the  annual  conference  by  the 
quarterly  meeting  as  a  proper  person  to  be  received 
into  the  traveling  connection.  There  were  eighteen 
preachers  recommended  and  received  at  this  confer- 
ence, and,  perhaps,  of  this  number,  I  am  the  only 
surviving  one  left.  One  by  one,  these  early  pioneers 
in  the  traveling  ranks  have  fallen  victims  to  death ; 
most  of  them,  as  far  as  I  am  informed,  witnessed  a 
good  confession,  and  have  gone  to  heaven  to  swell  the 
triumphant  shouts  of  the  redeemed,  and  meet  their 
spiritual  children  in  a  better  country  than  the  "  far 
west."  There  was  one  of  this  number  that  made 
shipwreck,  and  proved  the  truth  of  God's  word,  which 
says,  "  One  sinner  destroyeth  much  good ;"  and  per- 
haps of  all  the  men  that  then  composed  the  Western 
conference  when  we  joined,  there  are  but  two  now 
living;  namely,  William  Burke  and  Jacob  Young. 
Since  writing  the  above,  William  Burke  has  gone  to 
his  everlasting  home. 


74  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 


CHAPTER  VII. 

PRIMITIVE   METHODISM. 

AT  this  conference,  in  October,  1804,  I  was  sent  aa 
the  junior  preacher  to  Salt  River  and  Shelbyville 
circuits,  which  were  joined  together,  Benjamin  La- 
kin  in  charge,  and  William  M'Kendree  presiding 
elder. 

The  circuit  was  in  the  Kentucky  district.  It  was 
a  large  six  weeks'  circuit,  and  extended  from  the 
rolling  fork  of  Green  river  south,  to  the  Ohio  river 
north,  and  even  crossed  the  Ohio  into  what  was  then 
called  Clark's  or  the  Illinois  Grant,  now  in  the  east- 
ern portion  of  Indiana  state.  We  had  a  little  Book 
Concern,  then  in  its  infancy,  struggling  hard  for  ex- 
istence. We  had  no  Missionary  Society  ;  no  Sunday 
School  Society;  no  Church  papers;  no  Bible  or  Tract 
Society;  no  colleges,  seminaries,  academies,  or  uni- 
versities; all  the  efforts  to  get  up  colleges  under  the 
patronage  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  these 
United  States  and  territories,  were  signal  failures. 
We  had  no  pewcd  churches,  no  choirs,  no  organs  ;  in 
a  word,  we  had  no  instrumental  music  in  our  churches 
any  where.  The  Methodists  in  that  early  day  dressed 
plain ;  attended  their  meetings  faithfully,  especially 
preaching,  prayer  and  class  meetings;  they  wore  no 
jewelry,  no  ruffles ;  they  would  frequently  walk  three 
or  four  miles  to  class  meetings,  and  home  again,  on 
Sundays ;  they  would  go  thirty  or  forty  miles  to  their 
quarterly  meetings,  and  think  it  a  glorious  privilege 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  75 

to  meet  their  presiding  elder,  and  the  rest  of  the 
preachers.  They  could,  nearly  every  soul  of  them, 
sing  our  hymns  and  spiritual  songs.  They  religiously 
kept  the  Sabbath  day:  many  of  them  abstained  from 
dram-drinking,  not  because  the  temperance  reforma- 
tion was  ever  heard  of  in  that  day,  but  because  it 
was  interdicted  in  the  General  Rules  of  our  Discipline. 
The  Methodists  of  that  day  stood  up  and  faced  their 
preacher  when  they  sung;  they  kneeled  down  in  the 
public  congregation  as  well  as  elsewhere,  when  the 
preacher  said,  "  Let  us  pray."  There  was  no  standing 
among  the  members  in  time  of  prayer;  especially  the 
abominable  practice  of  sitting  down  during  that  ex- 
ercise was  unknown  among  early  Methodists.  Par. 
ents  did  not  allow  their  children  to  go  to  balls  or 
plays;  they  did  not  send  them  to  dancing-schools; 
they  generally  fasted  once  a  week,  and  almost  uni- 
versally on  the  Triday  before  each  quarterly  meeting. 
If  the  Methodists  had  dressed  in  the  same  "superfluity 
of  naughtiness  "  then  as  they  do  now,  there  were  ver^ 
few  even  out  of  the  Church  that  would  have  any 
confidence  in  their  religion.  But  0,  how  have 
things  changed  for  the  worse  in  this  educational  age 
of  the  world!  I  do  declare  there  was  little  or  no 
necessity  for  preachers  to  say  any  thing  against  fash- 
ionable and  superfluous  dressing  in  those  primitive 
times  of  early  Methodism ;  the  very  wicked  them- 
selves knew  it  was  wrong,  and  spoke  out  against  it  in 
the  members  of  the  Church.  The  moment  we  saw 
members  begin  to  trim  in  dress  after  the  fashionable 
world,  we  all  knew  they  would  not  hold  out.  Permit 
me  here  to  give  a  few  cases  in  confirmation  of  some 
things  I  have  said. 

This  year,  in  my  circuit,  there  lived  a  very  wealthy, 
fashionable  family.     The  good  lady  governess  of  this 


76  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

family  attended  a  two  days'  meeting  I  held  in  the 
neighborhood.  On  Saturday,  under  preaching,  the 
Lord  reached  her  proud  heart;  and  although,  perhaps, 
she  was  the  finest  dressed  lady  in  the  congregation, 
when  I  invited  mourners,  she  was  the  first  that  came 
and  fell  on  her  knees,  praying  aloud  for  mercy.  It 
pleased  God,  before  our  meeting  closed,  to  bless  her 
with  a  sense  of  pardoning  mercy,  and  she  rose  and 
shouted  aloud  for  joy ;  she  also  joined  the  Church. 
When  we  closed  the  meeting,  I  gave  out  our 
love-feast  for  next  morning  at  eight  o'clock;  not  a 
word  was  said  about  dress.  She  went  home,  intend- 
ing to  come  to  love-feast  next  morning,  but  it  occur- 
red to  her  that  all  her  superfluities  ought  to  be  laid 
aside  now,  and  that  she,  as  a  Christian,  for  example's 
sake,  ought  to  go  in  plain  attire;  but,  alas!  for  her, 
she  had  not  a  plain  dress  in  the  world.  Said  she  to 
herself,  What  shall  I  do  ?  She  immediately  hunted 
up  the  plainest  and  most  easily-altered  dress  she  had. 
To  work  at  it  she  went;  trimmed  it  and  fixed  it  tolera- 
bly plain.  To  love-feast  she  came ;  and  when  she 
rose  to  speak,  she  told  all  about  her  trouble  to  get 
plainly  attired  to  appear  in  love-feast  as  she  thought 
she  ought  to.  Take  another  case : 

I  traveled  in  the  state  of  Ohio  in  1806,  and  at  a 
largely-attended  camp  meeting  near  New  Lancaster, 
there  was  a  great  work  of  God  going  on ;  many  were 
pleading  for  mercy;  many  were  getting  religion; 
and  the  wicked  looked  solemn  and  awful.  The  pul- 
pit in  the  woods  was  a  large  stand ;  it  would  hold  a 
dozen  people,  and  I  would  not  let  the  lookers-on 
crowd  into  it,  but  kept  it  clear,  that  at  any  time  I 
might  occupy  it  for  the  purpose  of  giving  directions 
to  the  congregation. 

There  were  two  young  ladies,  sisters,  lately  from 


PETER   CARTWRIQHT.  77 

Baltimore,  or  so-mewhere  down  east.  They  had  been 
provided  for  on  the  ground  in  the  tent  of  a  very  re- 
ligious sister  of  theirs.  They  were  very  fashionably 
dressed  ;  I  think  they  must  have  had,  in  rings,  ear- 
rings, bracelets,  gold  chains,  lockets,  etc.,  at  least  one 
or  two  hundred  dollars'  worth  of  jewelry  about  their 
persons.  The  altar  was  crowded  to  overflowing  with 
mourners ;  and  these  young  ladies  were  very  solemn. 
They  met  me  at  the  stand,  and  asked  permission  to 
sit  down  inside  it.  I  told  them  that  if  they  would 
promise  me  to  pray  to  God  for  religion,  they  might 
take  a  seat  there.  They  were  too  deeply  affected  to 
be  idle  lookers-on ;  and  when  I  got  them  seated  in  the 
stand,  I  called  them,  and  urged  them  to  pray;  and  I 
called  others  to  my  aid.  They  became  deeply  en- 
gaged ;  and  about  midnight  they  were  both  power- 
fully converted.  They  rose  to  their  feet,  and  gave 
some  very  triumphant  shouts;  and  then  very  delib- 
erately took  off  their  gold  chains,  earrings,  lockets, 
etc.,  and  handed  them  to  me  saying,  "  We  have  no 
more  use  for  these  idols.  If  religion  is  the  glorious, 
good  thing  you  have  represented  it  to  be,  it  throws 
these  idols  into  eternal  shade." 

Take  still  another  case  in  point.  In  1810,  when  I 
was  traveling  in  West  Tennessee,  at  a  camp  meeting 
I  was  holding  there  was  a  great  revival  in  progress. 
At  that  time  it  was  customary  for  gentlemen  of 
fashion  to  wear  ruffled  shirts.  There  was  a  wealthy 
gentleman  thus  attired  at  our  meeting,  and  he  was 
brought  under  strong  conviction.  I  led  him  to  the 
altar  with  the  mourners ;  and  he  was  much  engaged. 
But  it  seemed  there  was  something  he  would  not  give 
up.  I  was  praying  by  his  side,  and  talking  to  him, 
when  all  on  a  sudden  he  stood  erect  on  his  knees,  and 
with  his  hands  he  deliberately  opened  his  shirt  bosom, 


78  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

took  hold  of  his  ruffles,  tore  them  off,  and  threw  them 
down  in  the  straw ;  and  in  less  than  two  minutes  God 
blessed  his  soul,  and  he  sprang  to  his  feet,  loudly 
praising  God. 

I  state  these  cases  to  show  that  unless  the  heart  is 
desperately  hardened  through  the  dcceitfulness  of  sin, 
there  is  a  solemn  conviction  on  all  minds  that  fashion- 
able frivolities  are  all  contrary  to  the  humble  spirit 
of  our  Savior;  but  idolatry  is  dreadfully  deceptive, 
and  we  must  remember  that  no  idolater  hath  any 
inheritance  in  the  kingdom  of  God.  Let  the  Meth- 
odists take  care. 

We  had  at  this  early  day  no  course  of  study  pre- 
scribed, as  at  present;  but  William  M'Kendrec,  after- 
ward bishop,  but  then  my  presiding  elder,  directed 
me  to  a  proper  course  of  reading  and  study,  lie 
selected  books  for  me,  both  literary  and  theological; 
and  every  quarterly  visit  he  made  he  examined  into 
my  progress,  and  corrected  my  errors,  if  1  had  fallen 
into  any.  lie  delighted  to  instruct  me  in  English 
grammar. 

Brother  Lakin  had  charge  of  the  circuit.  My  busi- 
ness was  to  preach,  meet  the  classes,  visit  the  society 
and  the  sick,  and  then  to  my  books  and  study  ;  and  1 
say  that  I  am  more  indebted  to  Bishop  M'Ken- 
dree  for  my  little  attainments  in  literature  and 
divinity,  than  to  any  other  man  on  earth.  And  I 
believe  that  if  presiding  elders  would  do  their  duty 
bv  young  men  in  this  way,  it  would  be  more  advan- 
tageous than  all  the  colleges  and  Biblical  institutes 
in  the  land ;  for  they  then  could  learn  and  practice 
every  day. 

Suppose,  now,  Mr.  Wesley  had  been  obliged  to 
wait  for  a  literary  and  theologically-trained  band  of 
preachers  efore  he  moved  in  the  glorious  work  of  his 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  79 

day,  what  would  Methodism  have  been  in  the  Wes« 
leyau  connection  to-day  ?  Suppose  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  in  these  United  States  had  been 
under  the  necessity  of  waiting  for  men  thus  qualified, 
what  would  her  condition  have  been  at  this  time  ?  In 
despite  of  all  John  Wesley's  prejudices,  he  providen- 
tially saw  that  to  accomplish  the  glorious  work  for 
which  God  had  raised  him  up,  he  must  yield  to  the 
superior  wisdom  of  Jehovah,  and  send  out  his  "  lay 
preachers  "  to  wake  up  a  slumbering  world.  If  Bishop 
Asbury  had  waited  for  this  choice  literary  band  of 
preachers,  infidelity  would  have  swept  these  United 
States  from  one  end  to  the  other. 

Methodism  in  Europe  this  day  would  have  been  as 
a  thousand  to  one,  if  the  Wesleyans  had  stood  by  the 
old  landmarks  of  John  Wesley ;  but  no ;  they  must 
introduce  pews,  literary  institutions,  and  theological 
institutes,  till  a  plain,  old-fashioned  preacher,  such 
as  one  of  Mr.  Wesley's  "  lay  preachers,"  would  be 
scouted,  and  not  allowed  to  occupy  one  of  their  pul- 
pits. Some  of  the  best  and  most  useful  men  that  were 
ever  called  of  God  to  plant  Methodism  in  this  happy 
republic,  were  among  the  early  pioneer  preachers, 
east,  west,  north,  and  south ;  and  especially  in  our 
mighty  west.  We  have  no  such  preachers  now  as 
some  of  the  first  ones  who  were  sent  out  to  Kentucky 
and  Tennessee. 

The  Presbyterians,  and  other  Calvinistic  branches 
of  the  Protestant  Church,  used  to  contend  for  an  edu- 
cated ministry,  for  pews,  for  instrumental  music,  for 
ft  congregational  or  stated  salaried  minister.  The 
Methodists  universally  opposed  these  ideas ;  and  the 
illiterate  Methodist  preachers  actually  set  the  world 
on  fire — the  American  world,  at  least — while  they 
^rere  lighting  their  matches  ! 


80  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

Methodist  preachers  were  called,  by  literary  gen'Je- 
men,  illiterate,  ignorant  babblers.  I  recollect  once  to 
have  come  across  one  of  these  Latin  arid  Greek  schoi 
ars,  a  regular  graduate  in  theology.  In  order  to  bring 
me  into  contempt  in  a  public  company  he  addressed 
mo  in  Greek.  In  my  younger  days  I  had  learned 
considerable  of  German.  I  listened  to  him  as  if  I 
understood  it  all,  and  then  replied  in  Dutch.  This  he 
knew  nothing  about,  neither  did  he  understand  He- 
brew. He  concluded  that  I  had  answered  him  in 
Hebrew,  and  immediately  caved  in,  and  stated  to  the 
company  that  I  was  the  first  educated  Methodist 
preacher  he  ever  saw. 

I  do  not  wish  to  undervalue  education,  but  really  I 
have  seen  so  many  of  these  educated  preachers  who 
forciHy  reminded  me  of  lettuce  growing  under  the 
shade  of  a  peach-tree,  or  like  a  gosling  that  had  got 
the  straddles  by  wading  in  the  dew,  that  I  turn  away 
sick  and  faint.  Now,  this  educated  ministry  and  the 
ological  training  are  no  longer  an  experiment.  Other 
denominations  have  tried  them,  and  they  have  proved 
a  perfect  failure;  and  is  it  not  strange  that  Methodist 
preachers  will  try  to  gather  up  these  antiquated  sys- 
tems, when  enlightened  Presbyterians  and  Congrega- 
tionalists  have  acknowledged  that  the  Methodist  plan 
is  the  best  in  the  world,  and  try  to  improve,  as  they 
say,  our  system,  alleging  that  our  educational  institu- 
tions have  created  a  necessity  for  theological  insti- 
tutes? Verily,  we  have  fallen  on  evil  times.  Is  it 
possible  that  now,  when  we  abound  in  education,  that 
we  need  Biblical  instruction  more  than  when  we  had 
no  education,  or  very  little  ?  Surely  if  we  ever  needed 
Bible  instruction,  it  was  when  we  could  derive  no 
benefit  from  literary  institutions.  This  is  my  com- 
mon-sense vi»,w  of  the  subiect 


PETER    CARTWRIQHT.  81 

I  awfully  fear  for  our  beloved  Methodism.  Multi- 
ply colleges,  universities,  seminaries,  and  academies: 
multiply  our  agencies,  and  editorships,  and  fill  them 
all  with  our  best  and  most  efficient  preachers,  and  you 
localize  the  ministry  and  secularize  them  too;  then 
farewell  to  itinerancy;  and  when  this  fails  we  plunge 
right  into  Congregationalism,  and  stop  precisely  where 
all  other  denominations  started.  I  greatly  desire  to 
see  all  the  interests  of  the  Methodist  Church  promoted, 
and  when  all  our  presidents,  professors,  editors,  and 
agents  shall  be  laymen,'  and  our  ministers  follow 
their  appropriate  calling,  namely,  preach  the  Gospel 
to  a  dying  world;  and  if  they  will  not  fall  into  the 
traveling  ranks  and  be  men  of  one  work,  let  them 
locate,  for  it  is  certain  as  lo«g  as  they  fill  these  offices 
and  agencies,  it  is  like  a  man  undertaking  to  ride  9 
race  with  the  reins  of  his  horse's  bridle  tied  to  a  stump. 
Every  man  who  fills  these  offices  and  agencies,  and 
retains  a  membership  in  the  traveling  'connection,  is  a 
clog  to  the  itinerant  wheels,  and  must,  erelong,  stop 
the  traveling  car;  and  when  that  takes  place  farewell 
to  Methodism. 

Is  it  not  manifest  that  the  employing  so  many  of 
our  preachers  in  these  agencies  and  professorships  is 
one  of  the  great  causes  why  we  have  such  a  scarcity 
of  preachers  to  fill  the  regular  work?  Moreover, 
these  presidents,  professors,  agents,  and  editors  get  a 
greater  amount  of  pay,  and  get  it  more  certainly,  too, 
than  a  traveling  preacher,  who  has  to  breast  every 
storm,  and  often  falls  very  far  short  of  his  disciplinary 
allowance.  Here  is  a  great  temptation  to  those  who 
are  qualified  to  fill  those  high  offices  to  seek  them,  and 
give  up  the  regular  work  of  preaching  and  trying  to 
save  souls.  And  is  it  not  manifest  to  every  candid 
observer  that  very  few  of  those  young  men  who  be- 


82  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

lieve  they  were  called  of  God  to  preach  the  Gospel,  and 
are  persuaded  to  go  to  a  college  or  a  Biblical  institute, 
the  better  to  qualify  them  for  the  great  work  of  the  min- 
istry, ever  go  into  the  regular  traveling  ministry?  The 
reason  is  plainly  this :  having  quieted  their  consciences 
with  the  flattering  unction  of  obtaining  a  sanctified 
education,  while  they  have  neglected  the  duty  of  regu- 
larly preaching  Jesus  to  dying  sinners,  their  moral 
sensibilities  are  blunted,  and  they  see  an  opening 
prospect  of  getting  better  pay  as  teachers  in  high 
schools  or  other  institutions  of  learning,  and  from  the 
prospect  of  gain  they  are  easily  persuaded  that  they 
can  meet  their  moral  obligations  in  disseminating 
sanctified  learning.  Thus,  as  sure  as  a  leaden  ball  tends 
to  the  earth  in  obedience  to  the  laws  of  gravity,  just 
so  sure  our  present  modus  operandi  tends  to  a  congre- 
gational ministry.  And  if  this  course  is  pursued  a 
little  longer,  the  Methodist  Church  will  bid  a  long, 
long  farewell  to  her  beloved  itinerancy,  to  which  we, 
under  God,  owe  almost  every  thing  that  is  intrinsically 
valuable  in  Methodism. 

It  is  said  that  the  young  men  who  are  studying 
in  the  Biblical  Institute  at  Concord,  which  is  patron- 
ized by  all  the  New  England  conferences,  spend  their 
evenings,  and  especially  their  Sabbaths,  in  the  sur- 
rounding villages,  lecturing  and  preaching,  to  the 
great  satisfaction  and  edification  of  the  Churches,  and 
their  brethren  give  them  something  to  aid  in  their 
support  while  'they  are  prosecuting  their  studies.  But 
who  is  so  hoodwinked  or  cable-towed  by  prejudice  as 
not  to  see  that  this  very  course  is  well  calculated  to 
gap  the  foundation  of  the  itinerancy  and  supplant  the 
regularly-appointed  pastor,  or  supersede  his  labors, 
and  will  finally  end  in  a  settled  ministry?  But  I  must 
resume  the  narrative. 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  8JJ 

Our  conference  this  fall,  1805,  was  held  at  Cole's 
meeting-house,  Scott  county,  Kentucky.  Bishop 
Asbury,  in  consequence  of  affliction,  failed  to  be  with 
us,  and  the  conference  elected  William  M'Kendree 
president.  Six  more  preachers  were  admitted  on  trial. 
The  number  of  traveling  preachers  was  thirty-eight 
Our  membership  numbered  11,877;  and  our  increase 
in  members,  was  2,277. 


84  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

SCIOTO    CIRCUIT. 

MY  appointment,  during  1805-6,  was  on  the  Scioto 
circuit,  Ohio  state  and  district.  John  Sale  was  pre- 
siding elder,  and  James  Quinn  was  senior  preacher,  or 
preacher  in  charge.  The  reader  will  see  how  greatly  I 
was  favored  the  first  two  years  of  my  regular  itinerant 
life,  to  be  placed  under  two  such  men  as  Benjamin 
Lakin  and  James  Quinn,  and  more,  two  such  presiding 
elders  as  William  M'Kendree  and  John  Sale.  These 
four  men  were  able  ministers  of  Jesus  Christ,  lived 
long,  did  much  good,  witnessed  a  good  confession, 
died  happy,  and  are  all  now  safely  housed  in  heaven. 
Peace  be  to  their  memory  forever ! 

Scioto  circuit  extended  from  the  Ohio  river  to 
Chillicothe,  situated  on  that  river;  and  crossed  it 
near  the  mouth,  at  what  is  now  called  Portsmouth. 
It  was  a  four  weeks'  circuit,  and  there  were  four  hun- 
dred and  seventy-four  members  on  it.  Dr.  Tiffin, 
who  was  Governor  of  the  state,  was  a  local  preacher; 
and  both  he  and  his  wife  were  worthy  members  of 
our  Church.  He  lived  at  Chillicothe,  then  the  seat 
of  government  for  the  state. 

There  were  two  incidents  happened  while  I  was 
on  the  east  end  of  this  circuit,  which  I  will  relate. 

We  had  an  appointment  near  Eagle  creek.  Here 
the  Shakers  broke  in  Mr.  Dunlevy,  whom  we  have 
mentioned  elsewhere  as  having  been  a  regular  Pres- 
byterian minister,  who  had  left  that  Church  and  joined 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  85 

the  New  Lights.  His  New  Light  increased  so  fast, 
that  he  lost  what  little  sense  he  had,  and  was  now  a 
ranting  Shaker.  He  came  up  here,  and  roared  and 
fulminated  awhile,  led  many  astray,  flourished  for 
some  time,  and  then  his  influence  died  away,  and  ha 
left  for  parts  unknown 

On  the  south-eastern  part  of  the  circuit  we  took  in 
a  new  preaching-place,  at  a  Mr.  Moor's.  We  gave 
them  Sunday  preaching.  Mr.  Moor  had  built  a  large 
hown  log-house,  two  stories  high.  There  was  no  parti- 
tion in  the  second  story ;  but  it  was  seated,  and  he  gave 
it  to  us  to  preach  in.  Not  far  from  this  place  lived  a 
regularly- educated  Presbyterian  preacher,  who  had  a 
fine  family,  and  was  in  many  respects  a  fine  man,  but, 
unhappily,  he  had  contracted  a  love  for  strong  drink. 
He  had  preached  in  this  neighborhood,  and  was  much 
beloved,  for  he  was  withal  a  very  good  preacher. 

In  making  my  way  on  one  occasion  to  Mr.  Moor's, 
to  my  Sunday  appointment,  I  got  lost  and  was  belated, 
and  when  I  arrived,  there  was  a  large  assembly  collect- 
ed, and  this  minister  was  preaching  to  them,  and  he 
preached  well,  and  I  was  quite  pleased  with  the  sermon 
so  far  as  I  heard  it.  When  he  was  done,  he  undertook 
to  make  a  public  apology  for  a  drunken  spree  he  had 
got  into  a  few  days  before.  "Well,"  thought  I,  "thi» 
is  right ;  all  right,  I  suppose !"  But  to  excuse  himself 
for  his  unaccountable  love  of  whisky,  he  stated  that 
he  had  been  informed  by  his  mother  that  before  he 
was  born  she  longed  for  whisky;  and  he  supposed 
that  this  was  the  cause  of  his  appetite  for  strong  drink, 
for  he  had  loved  it  from  his  earliest  recollection.  This 
was  the  substance  of  his  apology. 

I  felt  somewhat  indignant  at  this ;  and  when  I  rose 
to  close  after  him,  I  stated  to  the  congregation  that  I 
thought  the  preacher's  apology  for  drunkenness  was 


8ti  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

infinitely  worse  than  the  act  of  drunkenness  itself 
ihat  I  looked  upon  it  as  a  lie,  and  a  downright  slander 
on  his  mother;  and  that  I  believed  his  love  of  whisky 
tfas  the  result  of  the  intemperate  use  of  it,  in  which  he 
had  indulged  till  he  formed  the  habit;  and  that  I, 
for  one,  was  not  willing  to  accept  or  believe  the  truth 
of  his  apology ;  that  I  feared  the  preacher  would  live 
and  die  a  drunkard,  and  be  damned  at  last;  and  that 
I  hoped  the  people  there  would  not  receive  him  as  a 
preacher  till  he  gave  ample  evidence  that  he  was 
entirely  cured  of  drunkenness. 

After  I  made  these  statements,  I  felt  that  God  was 
willing  to  bless  the  people  there  and  then ;  and,  rais- 
ing my  voice,  gave  them  as  warm  an  exhortation  as 
I  could  command.  Suddenly  an  awful  power  fell  on 
the  congregation,  and  they  instantly  fell  right  and 
left,  and  cried  aloud  for  mercy.  I  suppose  there  were 
not  less  than  thirty  persons  smitten  down ;  the  young, 
the  old,  and  middle-aged  indiscriminately,  were  op- 
erated on  in  this  way.  My  voice  at  that  day  was 
strong  and  clear ;  and  I  could  sing,  exhort,  pray,  and 
preach  almost  all  the  time,  day  and  night.  I  went 
through  the  assembly,  singing,  exhorting,  praying, 
and  directing  poor  sinners  to  Christ.  While  I  was 
thus  engaged  the  Presbyterian  minister  left. 

There  were  a  few  scattered  members  of  the  Church 
Around  this  place,  who  got  happy  and  shouted  aloud 
for  joy,  and  joined  in  and  exhorted  sinners,  and  they 
helped  me  very  much.  Indeed,  our  meeting  lasted 
all  night,  and  the  greater  part  of  next  day.  Between 
twenty  and  thirty  professed  religion,  and  joined  the 
Church;  and  fully  as  many  more  went  home  under 
strong  conviction  and  in  deep  distress.  Many  of  them 
afterward  obtained  religion,  and  joined  the  Church. 

There  was  a  very  remarkable  case  that  I  will  men- 


PETEHCARTWRIGST.  87 

tion  here.  There  was  one  lady  about  forty-five  years 
old,  who  was  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
and  a  very  rigid  predestinarian.  Her  husband  was  a 
Methodist,  and  several  of  their  children  had  obtained 
religion  among  the  young  converts.  This  lady  got 
powerfully  convicted,  and  concluded  that  she  never 
had  any  religion.  She  had  fallen  to  the  floor  under 
the  mighty  power  of  God.  She  prayed  and  agonized 
hard  for  days.  At  length  the  devil  tempted  her  to 
believe  that  she  was  a  reprobate,  and  that  there  was 
no  mercy  for  her.  She  went  into  black  despair  under 
this  temptation  of  the  devil,  and  such  was  the  despe- 
rate state  of  her  mind  that  at  length  she  conceived 
that  she  was  Jesus  Christ,  and  took  it  upon  her,  in 
this  assumed  character,  to  bless  and  curse  any  and  all 
that  came  to  see  her. 

The  family  were,  of  course,  greatly  afflicted,  and 
the  whole  neighborhood  were  in  great  trouble  at  this 
afflictive  dispensation.  Her  friends  and  all  of  us  used 
every  argument  in  our  power,  but  all  in  vain.  She 
at  length  utterly  refused  to  eat,  or  drink,  or  sleep. 
In  this  condition  she  lingered  for  thirteen  days  and 
nights,  and  then  died  without  ever  returning  to  her 
right  mind.  A  few  persecutors  and  opposers  of  the 
Methodists  tried  to  make  a  great  fuss  about  this  affair, 
but  they  were  afraid  to  go  far  with  it,  for  fear  the 
Lord  would  send  the  same  affliction  on  them. 

The  Hockhocking  river  lay  immediately  north  of 
us,  the  Scioto  river  between  us.  John  Meek  and 
James  Axley  were  appointed  to  that  circuit.  The 
circuit  reached  from  the  Scioto  to  Zanesville,  on  the 
Muskingum  river.  It  was  a  hard  and  laborious  cir- 
cuit. Brother  Meek's  health  failed,  and  brother  Sale, 
our  presiding  elder,  moved  me  from  Scioto,  and 
placed  me  on  this  circuit  with  brother  Axley.  I  was 


88  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

fiorry  to  leave  the  brethren  in  Scioto  circuit,  and  es- 
pecially brother  Quinn,  whom  I  dearly  loved ;  but 
brother  Sale  was  still  my  presiding  elder,  and  brother 
Quinn's  family  lived  in  Hockhocking  circuit,  and  a 
precious  family  it  was. 

I  got  to  see  brother  Quinn  every  round.  Brother 
Axley  and  myself  were  like  Jonathan  and  David. 
There  were  no  parsonages  in  those  days,  and  brother 
Quinn  lived  in  a  little  cabin  on  his  father-in-law's 
land.  He  had  several  children,  and  his  cabin  was 
small.  When  the  preachers  would  come  to  see  him, 
they  would  eat  and  converse  with  brother  Quinn  and 
family,  but  would  sleep  at  old  father  Teel's,  brother 
Quinn's  father-in-law.  The  first  time  I  came  round  1 
spent  the  afternoon  with  brother  Quinn.  He  made 
some  apologies,  and  told  me  I  could  sleep  better  at 
father  Teel's.  "But,"  said  he,  "  I  will  tell  you  how 
you  must  do.  You  will  sleep  at  father  Teel's,  in  one 
part  of  his  double  cabin ;  he  and  his  family  will  sleep 
in  the  other.  His  custom  is  to  rise  early.  As  coon 
as  ever  he  dresses  himself  he  commences  giving  out  a 
hymn,  sings,  and  then  goes  to  prayer;  he  does  not 
even  wait  for  his  family  to  get  up.  He  serves  the 
preachers  the  same  way.  He  never  was  known  to 
wait  a  minute  for  any  preacher  except  Bishop  Asbury. 
You  must  rise  early,  dress  quickly,  and  go  right  into 
the  other  room  if  you  want  to  be  at  morning  prayer. 
I  thought  I  would  tell  you  beforehand,  that  you  might 
not  be  taken  by  surprise." 

I  thanked  him.  "  But,"  said  I,  "  why  don't  the 
preachers  cure  the  old  man  of  this  disorderly  way?" 

"0,  he  is  old  and  set  in  his  way,"  said  brother 
Quinn. 

"  You  may  rest  assured  I  will  cure  him,"  said  I. 

"0,  no,"  said  he,  "you  can  not." 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  89 

So  I  retired  to  old  father  Teel's  to  sleep.  We  had 
family  prayer,  and  1  retired  to  rest.  I  had  no  fear 
about  the  matter,  for  I  was  a  constant  early  riser,  and 
always  thought  it  very  wrong  for  preachers  to  sleep 
late  and  keep  the  families  waiting  on  them.  Just  as 
day  broke  I  awoke,  rose  up,  and  began  to  dress, 
but  had  not  nigh  accomplished  it  when  I  distinctly 
heard  Teel  give  out  his  hymn  and  commence  singing, 
and  about  the  time  I  had  got  dressed  I  heard  him 
commence  praying.  He  gave  thanks  to  God  that 
they  had  been  spared  through  the  night,  and  were  all 
permitted  to  see  the  light  of  a  new  day,  and  at  the 
same  time  I  suppose  every  one  of  his  family  was  fast 
asleep.  I  deliberately  opened  the  door  and  walked 
out  to  the  well,  washed  myself,  and  then  walked 
back  to  my  cabin.  Just  as  I  got  to  the  door,  the  old 
brother  opened  his  door,  and  seeing  me,  said: 

"Good  morning,  sir.  Why,  I  did  not  know  you 
were  up." 

"Yes,"  said  I;  "I  have  been  up  some  time." 

"Well,  brother,"  said  he,  "why  did  you  not  come 
in  to  prayers?" 

"  Because,"  said  I,  "  it  is  wrong  to  pray  of  a  morn- 
ing in  the  family  before  we  wash." 

The  old  brother  passed  on,  and  no  more  was  said  at 
that  time.  That  evening,  just  before  we  were  about 
to  retire  to  rest,  the  old  brother  set  out  the  book 
and  said  to  me: 

"  Brother,  hold  prayers  with  us." 

"No,  sir,"  said  I. 

Said  he :  "  Come,  brother,  take  the  book  and  pray 
with  us." 

"No,  sir,"  said  I;  "you  love  to  pray  so  well  you 
may  do  it  yourself." 

He  insisted,  but  I  persistently  refused,  saying, 


90  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

"  5Tou  are  so  fond  of  praying  yourself,  that  you 
even  thanked  God  this  morning  that  he  had  spared 
you  all  to  see  the  light  of  a  new  day,  when  yonr 
family  had  not  yet  opened  their  eyes,  but  were  all 
fast  asleep.  And  you  have  such  an  ahsurd  way  of 
holding  prayers  in  your  family,  that  I  do  not  wish  to 
have  any  thing  to  do  with  it." 

He  then  took  up  the  book,  read  and  said  prayers, 
but  you  may  rely  on  it  the  next  morning  things  were 
much  changed.  He  waited  for  me,  and  had  all  his 
family  up  in  order.  He  acknowledged  his  error,  and 
told  me  it  was  one  of  the  best  reproofs  he  ever  got. 
I  then  prayed  with  the  family,  and  after  that  all 
went  on  well. 

Our  last  quarterly  meeting  was  a  camp  meeting. 
We  had  a  great  many  tents,  and  a  large  turn-out  for 
a  new  country,  and,  perhaps,  there  never  was  a 
greater  collection  of  rabble  and  rowdies.  They  came 
drunk,  and  armed  with  dirks,  clubs,  knives,  and 
horsewhips,  and  swore  they  would  break  up  the 
meeting.  After  interrupting  us  very  much  on  Satur- 
day night,  they  collected  early  on  Sunday  morning, 
determined  on  a  general  riot.  At  eight  o'clock  I  was 
appointed  to  preach.  About  the  time  I  was  half 
through  my  discourse,  two  very  fine-dressed  young 
men  marched  into  the  congregation  with  loaded 
whips,  and  hats  on,  and  rose  up  and  stood  in  the  midst 
of  the  ladies,  and  began  to  laugh  and  talk.  They  were 
near  the  stand,  and  I  requested  them  to  desist  and  get 
<>ff  the  seats;  but  they  cursed  me,  and  told  me  to 
mind  my  own  business,  and  said  they  would  not  get 
down.  I  stopped  trying  to  preach,  and  called  for  a 
magistrate.  There  were  two  at  hand,  but  I  saw  they 
were  both  afraid.  I  ordered  them  to  take  these  men 
into  custody,  but  they  said  they  could  not  do  )t.  I 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  91 

told  them,  as  I  left  the  stand,  to  command  me  to  take 
them,  and  I  would  do  it  at  the  risk  of  my  life.  I  ad- 
vanced toward  them.  They  ordered  me  to  stand  off, 
but  I  advanced.  One  of  them  made  a  pass  at  my  head 
with  his  whip,  but  I  closed  in  with  him,  and  jerked 
him  off  the  seat.  A  regular  scuffle  ensued.  The 
congregation  by  this  time  were  all  in  commotion.  I 
heard  the  magistrates  give  general  orders,  commanding 
all  friends  of  order  to  aid  in  suppressing  the  riot.  In 
the  scuffle  I  threw  my  prisoner  down,  and  held  him 
fast ;  he  tried  his  best  to  get  loos^ ;  I  told  him  to  be 
quiet,  or  I  would  pound  his  chest  well.  The  mob  rose, 
*ind  rushed  to  the  rescue  of  the  two  prisoners,  for 
they  had  taken  the  other  young  man  also.  An  old 
and  drunken  magistrate  came  up  to  me,  and  ordered 
me  to  let  my  prisoner  go.  I  told  him  I  should  not. 
He  swore  if  I  did  not  he  would  knock  me  down.  I 
told  him  to  crack  away.  Then  one  of  my  friends,  at 
my  request,  took  told  of  my  prisoner,  and  the  drunken 
justice  made  a  pass  at  me ;  but  I  parried  the  stroke, 
and  seized  him  by  the  collar  and  the  hair  of  the  head, 
and  fetching  him  a  sudden  jerk  forward,  brought  him 
to  the  ground,  and  jumped  on  him.  I  told  him  to  be 
quiet,  or  I  would  pound  him  well.  The  mob  then 
rushed  to  the  scene;  they  knocked  down  seven 
magistrates,  and  several  preachers  and  others.  I  gave 
up  my  drunken  prisoner  to  another,  and  threw  myself 
in  front  of  the  friends  of  order.  Just  at  this  moment 
the  ringleader  of  the  mob  and  I  met ;  he  made  three 
passes  at  me,  intending  to  knock  me  down.  The  last 
time  he  struck  at  me,  by  the  force  of  his  own  effort  he 
threw  the  side  of  his  face  toward  me.  Jt  seemed  at 
that  moment  I  had  not  power  to  resist  temptation, 
and  I  struck  a  sudden  blow  in  the  burr  of  the  ear  and 
dropped  him  to  the  earth,  Just  at  that  moment  the 


92  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

friends  of  order  rushed  by  hundreds  on  the  mob, 
knocking  them  down  in  every  direction.  In  a  few 
minutes  the  place  became  too  strait  for  the  mob,  and 
they  wheeled  and  fled  in  every  direction;  but  we 
ecured  about  thirty  prisoners,  marched  them  off  to  a 
vacant  tent,  and  put  them  under  guard  till  Monday 
morning,  when  they  were  tried,  and  every  man  was 
fined  to  the  utmost  limits  of  the  law.  The  aggregate 
amount  of  fines  and  costs  was  near  three  hundred 
dollars.  They  fined  my  old  drunken  magistrate 
twenty  dollars,  and  returned  him  to  court,  and  he  was 
cashiered  of  his  office.  On  Sunday,  when  we  had 
vanquished  the  mob,  the  whole  encampment  was  filled 
with  mourning;  and  although  there  was  no  attempt 
to  resume  preaching  till  evening,  yet  such  was  our 
confused  state,  that  there  was  not  then  a  single 
preacher  on  the  ground  willing  to  preach,  from  the 
presiding  elder,  John  Sale,  down.  Seeing  we  had 
fallen  on  evil  times,  my  spirit  was  stirred  within  me. 
I  said  to  the  elder,  "I  feel  a  clear  conscience,  for 
under  the  necessity  of  the  circumstances  we  have 
done  right,  and  now  I  ask  to  let  me  preach." 

"  Do,"  said  the  elder,  "  for  there  is  no  other  man 
on  the  ground  can  do  it." 

The  encampment  was  lighted  up,  the  trumpet 
blown ;  I  rose  in  the  stand,  and  required  every  soul 
to  leave  the  tents  and  come  into  the  congregation. 
There  was  a  general  rush  to  the  stand.  I  requested 
the  brethren,  if  ever  they  prayed  in  all  their  lives,  to 
pray  now.  My  voice  was  strong  and  clear,  and  my 
preaching  was  more  of  an  exhortation  and  encourage- 
ment than  a«y  thing  else.  My  text  was,  "  The  gates 
of  hell  shall  not  prevail."  In  about  thirty  minutea 
the  power  of  God  fell  on  the  congregation  in  such  a 
manner  as  is  seldom  seen;  the  people  fell  in  every 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  93 

direction,  right  and  left,  front  and  rear.  It  was  sup- 
posed that  not  less  than  three  hundred  fell  like  dead 
men  in  mighty  battle;  and  there  was  no  need  of 
calling  mourners,  for  they  were  strewed  all  over  the 
camp-ground;  loud  wailings  went  up  to  heaven  from 
sinners  for  mercy,  and  a  general  shout  from  Christians, 
so  that  the  noise  was  heard  afar  off.  Our  meeting 
lasted  all  night,  and  Monday  and  Monday  night ;  and 
when  we  closed  on  Tuesday,  there  were  two  hundred 
who  had  professed  religion,  and  about  that  number 
joined  the  Church. 

Brother  Axley  and  myself  pulled  together  like  true 
yoke-fellows.  We  were  both  raised  in  the  back- 
woods, and  well  understood  frontier  life.  Brother 
Axley  was  truly  a  child  of  nature;  a  great  deal  of 
sternness  and  firmness  about  him  as  well  as  oddity. 
He  knew  nothing  about  polished  life.  I  will  here 
relate  a  little  circumstance  that  took  place  with  him 
and  myself  at  Governor  Tiffin's,  in  Chillicothe. 

This  year  brother  Axley,  while  I  was  on  the  Scio- 
to  circuit,  came  over  to  see  me,  and  he  preached  for 
me  in  Chillicothe.  The'  Governor  and  his  amiable 
wife  were  much  delighted  with  brother  Axley.  The 
Governor's  house  was  the  preacher's  home,  and  we 
went  there.  The  Governor  was  easily  excited,  and 
he  had  not  entire  command  of  his  risibilities.  Sister 
Tiffin  had  great  command  of  herself.  She  could 
control  the  muscles  of  her  face,  and  look  stern 
when  she  pleased.  They  had  no  children ;  but  they 
had  a  very  nice  little  lap-dog.  We  were  called  from 
the  parlor  to  supper,  and  among  other  eatables  they 
had  fried  chicken,  and  tea  and  coffee.  Sister  Tiffin 
asked  brother  Axley  if  he  would  have  some  of  the 
chicken.  He  said,  yes,  he  was  very  fond  of  it.  She 
helped  him  to  some;  it  was  a  leg  unjointcd.  Brother 


94  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

Axley  never  offered  to  cut  the  flesh  off  of  it,  but  took 
it  in  his  fingers,  and  ate  it  in  that  way ;  and  when  he 
had  got  the  flesh  from  the  bone,  he  turned  round  and 
whistled  for  the  little  lap-dog,  and  threw  the  bone 
down  on  the  carpet.  I  saw  the  Governor  was  excited 
to  laughter,  but  suppressed  it.  I  cast  an  eye  at 
sister  Tiffin ;  she  frowned,  and  shook  her  head  at  me, 
as  much  as  to  say,  "  Do  not  laugh."  This  passed  off 
tolerably  well. 

It  was  the  custom  in  those  days  to  eat  awhile  be- 
fore the  tea  and  coffee  were  dished  out.  Said  sister  Tif- 
fin to  brother  Axley,  "  Will  you  have  a  cup  of  tea  or 
coffee?"  He  asked  her  if  she  had  any  milk.  She  an- 
swered, "  Yes."  "  Well,  sister,"  said  he, "  give  me  some 
milk,  for  they  have  nearly  scalded  my  stomach  with 
tea  and  coffee,  and  I  do  n't  like  it."  I  really  thought 
the  Governor  would  burst  out  into  loud  laughter,  but 
he  suppressed  it;  and  I  thought  I  must  leave  the 
table  to  laugh ;  but  casting  my  eyes  again  at  sister 
Tiffin,  she  frowned  and  shook  her  head  at  me,  which 
helped  me  very  much. 

When  we  went  up  to  bed,  said  I,  "  Brother  Axley, 
you  surely  are  the  most  uncultivated  creature  I  evei 
saw.  Will  you  never  learn  any  manners?" 

Said  he,  "What  have  I  done?" 

"Done !"  said  I;  "you  gnawed  the  meat  off  of  youi 
chicken,  holding  it  in  your  fingers ;  then  whistled  up 
the  dog,  and  threw  your  bone  down  on  the  carpet; 
and  more  than  this,  you  talked  right  at  the  Governor's 
table,  and  in  the  presence  of  sister  Tiffin,  abou 
scalding  your  stomach  with  tea  and  coffee."  He  burst 
into  tears,  and  said,  "Why  did  you  not  tell  me  better? 
I  didn't  know  any  better." 

Next  morning,  when  we  awoke,  he  looked  up  and 
saw  the  plastering  of  the  room  all  round.  "  Well,"  said 


PETER    CARTWRIOHT.  96 

he,  "  when  I  go  home  I  will  tell  my  people  that  I  slept 
in  the  Governor's  house,  and  it  was  a  stone  house  too, 
and  plastered  at  that." 

Having  been  raised  almost  in  a  cane-brake,  and 
never  been  accustomed  to  see  any  thing  but  log-cab- 
ins, it  was  a  great  thing  for  him  to  behold  a  good 
house  and  sleep  in  a  plastered  room.  But  I  tell  you, 
my  readers,  he  was  a  great  and  good  minister  of 
Jesus  Christ.  He  often  said  a  preacher  that  was  good 
and  true  had  a  trinity  of  devils  to  fight;  namely,  su- 
perfluous dress,  whisky,  and  slavery;  and  he  seldom 
ever  preached  but  he  shared  it  to  all  three  of  these 
evils,  like  a  man  of  God. 

Brother  Axley  entered  the  traveling  connection  in 
1804,  traveled  nineteen  years,  and  in  1823  located, 
lie  was  remarkably  useful  as  a  local  preacher.  He 
was  industrious  and  economical,  lived  neat  and  com- 
fortable, but,  by  going  security  for  a  friend,  he  lost 
nearly  all  his  property.  The  Church  helped  him 
some ;  but  he  never  recovered  his  former  easy  and 
comfortable  circumstances,  and  died  in  comparative 
poverty. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY    Of 


CHAPTER  IX. 

ITINERANT    LIFE. 

AT  the  ckse  of  this  conference  year — 1806 — I  met 
the  Kentucky  preachers  at  Lexington,  and  headed 
by  William  Burke,  about  twenty  of  us  started  for 
conference,  which  was  held  in  East  Tennessee,  at 
Ebenezer  Church,  Nollichuckie,  September  15th.  Our 
membership  had  increased  to  twelve  thousand,  six 
hundred  and  seventy ;  our  net  increase  was  about 
eight  hundred. 

This  year  another  presiding-elder  district  was 
added  to  the  Western  conference,  called  the  Missis- 
sippi district.  The  number  of  our  traveling  preach- 
ers increased  from  thirty-eight  to  forty-nine.  Bishop 
Asbury  attended  the  conference.  There  were  thir- 
teen of  us  elected  and  ordained  deacons.  According 
to  the  printed  Minutes,  this  was  placed  in  1807,  but 
it  was  in  the  fall  of  1806.  Two  years  before  there 
were  eighteen  of  us  admitted  on  trial ;  that  number, 
in  this  short  space  of  time,  had  fallen  to  thirteen ;  the 
other  five  were  discontinued  at  their  own  request,  or 
from  sickness,  or  were  reduced  to  suffering  circum- 
stances, and  compelled  to  desist  from  traveling  for 
want  of  the  means  of  support. 

I  think  I  received  about  forty  dollars  this  year; 
but  many  of  our  preachers  did  not  receive  half  that 
amount.  These  were  hard  times  in  those  western 
wilds;  many,  very  many,  pious  and  useful  preachers 
were  literally  starved  into  a  location.  I  do  not  mean 


PETER   CARTWKIGI1T.  '     97 

that  they  were  starved  for  want  of  food ;  for  although 
it  was  rough,  yet  the  preachers  generally  got  enough 
to  eat.  But  they  did  not  generally  receive  in  a 
whole  year  money  enough  to  get  them  a  suit  of 
slothes;  and  if  people,  and  preachers  too,  had  not 
dressed  in  homespun  clothing,  and  the  good  sisters 
had  not  made  and  presented  their  preachers  with 
clothing,  they  generally  must  retire  from  itinerant 
life,  and  go  to  work  and  clothe  themselves.  Money 
was  very  scarce  in  the  country  at  this  early  day,  but 
some  of  the  best  men  God  ever  made  breasted  the 
storms,  endured  poverty,  and  triumphantly  planted 
Methodism  in  this  western  world. 

When  we  were  ordained  deacons   at   this  confer 
ence,  Bishop  Asbury  presented  me  with  a  parchment 
certifying    my   ordination    in    the    following  words, 
namely : 

"Know  all  by  these  presents,  That  I,  Francis  As- 
bury, Bishop  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in 
America,  under  the  protection  of  almighty  God,  and 
with  a  single  eye  to  his  glory,  by  the  imposition  of 
my  hands  and  prayer,  have  this  day  set  apart  Peter 
Cartwright  for  the  office  of  a  DEACON  in  the  said 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church ;  a  man  whom  I  judge  to 
be  well  qualified  for  that  work;  and  do  hereby  rec- 
ommend him  to  all  whom  it  may  concern,  as  a  proper 
person  to  administer  the  ordinance  of  baptism,  mar- 
riage, and  the  burial  of  the  dead,  in  the  absence  of  an 
elder,  and  to  feed  the  flock  of  Christ,  so  long  as  his 
spirit  and  practice  are  such  as  become  the  Gospel  of 
Christ,  and  he  continueth  to  hold  fast  the  form  of 
sound  words,  according  to  the  established  doctrine  oi 
me  Gospel. 

"In  testimony  whereof,  I  have   hereunto  set  my 


P8  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

h:md  and  seal  this  sixteenth  day  of  September,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  six. 
"FRANCIS  ASBURY." 

I  had  traveled  from  Zanesvillc,  in  Ohio,  to  East 
Tennessee  to  conference,  a  distance  of  over  five  hun- 
dred miles;  and  when  our  appointments  were  read 
out,  I  was  sent  to  Marietta  circuit,  almost  right  back, 
but  still  further  east.  Marietta  was  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Muskiugum  river,  where  it  emptied  into  the 
Ohio.  This  circuit  extended  along  the  north  bank  of 
the  Ohio,  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  crossed  over  the 
Ohio  river  at  the  mouth  of  the  Little  Kanawha,  and 
up  that  stream  to  Hughes  river,  then  east  to  Middle 
Island.  I  suppose  it  was  three  hundred  miles  round. 
I  had  to  cross  the  Ohio  river  four  times  every  round. 

It  was  a  poor  and  hard  circuit  at  that  time.  Marietta 
and  the  country  round  were  settled  at  an  early  day  by 
*  colony  of  Yankees.  At  the  time  of  iny  appoint- 
ment I  had  never  seen  a  Yankee,  and  I  had  heard 
dismal  stories  about  them.  It  was  said  they  lived 
almost  entirely  on  pumpkins,  molasses,  fat  meat,  and 
bohea  tea;  moreover,  that  they  could  not  bear  loud 
and  zealous  sermons,  and  they  had  brought  on  their 
learned  preachers  with  them,  and  they  read  their 
sermons,  and  were  always  criticising  us  poor  back- 
woods preachers.  When  my  appointment  was  read 
out  it  distressed  me  greatly.  I  went  to  Bishop  Asbury 
and  begged  him  to  supply  my  place,  and  let  me  go 
home.  The  old  father  took  me  in  his  arms,  and  said, 

"0  no,  my  son;  go  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.  It 
will  make  a  man  of  you." 

Ah,  thought  I,  if  this  is  the  way  to  make  men,  I  do 
not  want  to  be  a  man.  I  f-ried  over  it  bitterly,  and 
prayed  too.  But  on  I  started,  cheered  by  my  presid- 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  99 

mg  elder,  brother  J.  Sale.  If  ever  I  saw  hard  times, 
surely  it  was  this  year ;  yet  many  of  the  people  were 
kind,  and  treated  me  friendly.  I  had  hard  work  to 
keep  soul  and  body  together.  The  first  Methodist 
house  I  came  to  I  found  the  brother  a  Universalist.  I 
crossed  over  the  Muskingum  river  to  Marietta.  The 
first  Methodist  family  I  stopped  with  there,  the  lady 
was  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
but  a  thorough  Universalist.  She  was  a  thin-faced, 
Roman-nosed,  loquacious  Yankee,  glib  on  the  tongue, 
and  you  may  depend  on  it  I  had  a  hard  race  to  keep 
up  with  her,  though  I  found  it  a  good  school,  for  it 
set  me  to  reading  my  Bible.  And  here  permit  me  to 
say,  of  all  the  isms  that  I  ever  heard  of,  they  were 
here.  These  descendants  of  the  Puritans  were  gener- 
ally educated,  but  their  ancestors  were  rigid  pre- 
destinarians ;  and  as  they  were  sometimes  favored 
with  a  little  light  on  their  moral  powers,  and  could 
just  "  see  men  as  trees  walking,"  they  jumped  into 
Deism,  Universalism,  Unitarianism,  etc.,  etc.  I  verily 
believe  it  was  the  best  school  I  ever  entered.  They 
waked  me  up  on  all  sides ;  Methodism  was  feeble, 
and  I  had  to  battle  or  run,  and  I  resolved  on  the 
former. 

There  was  here  in  Marietta  a  preacher  by  the 
name  of  A.  Sargent ;  he  had  been  a  Universalist 
preacher,  but  finding  such  a  motley  gang,  as  I  have 
above  mentioned,  he  thought — and  thought  correctly 
too — that  they  were  proper  subjects  for  his  imposture. 
Accordingly,  he  assumed  the  name  of  Halcyon  Church, 
and  proclaimed  himself  the  millennial  messenger.  He 
professed  to  see  visions,  fall  into  trances,  and  to  con- 
verse with  angels.  His  followers  were  numerous  in 
the  town  and  country.  The  Presbyterian  and  Congre- 
gational ministers  were  afraid  of  him.  lie  had  men 


100  AUTO  BIO  Gil  A  I'll  Y    OF 

preachers  and  women  preachers.  The  Methodists 
had  no  meeting-house  in  Marietta.  We  had  to  preach 
in  the  court-house  when  we  could  get  a  chance.  We 
battled  pretty  severely.  The  Congregationalists 
opened  their  Academy  for  me  to  preach  in.  I  pro- 
pared  myself,  and  gave  battle  to  the  Halcyons.  This 
made  a  mighty  commotion.  In  the  mean  time  we  had 
a  camp  meeting  in  the  suburbs  of  Marietta.  Brother 
Sale,  our  presiding  elder,  was  there.  Mr.  Sargent 
came,  and  hung  around  and  wanted  to  preach,  but 
brother  Sale  never  noticed  him.  I  have  said  before 
that  he  professed  to  go  into  trances  and  have  visions. 
Ho  would  swoon  awray,  fall,  and  lay  a  long  time;  and 
when  he  would  come  to,  he  would  tell  what  mighty 
things  he  had  seen  and  heard. 

On  Sunday  night,  at  our  camp  meeting,  Sargent 
got  some  powder,  and  lit  a  cigar,  and  then  walked 
down  to  the  bank  of  the  river,  one  hundred  yards, 
where  stood  a  large  stump.  He  put  his  powder  on 
the  stump,  and  touched  it  with  his  cigar.  The  flash 
of  the  powder  was  seen  by  many  at  the  camp;  at 
least  the  light.  When  the  powder  flashed,  down  fell 
Sargent;  there  he  lay  a  good  while.  In  the  mean 
time  the  people  found  him  lying  there,  and  gathered 
around  him.  At  length  he  came  to,  and  said  he  had 
a  message  from  God  to  us  Methodists.  He  said  God 
had  come  down  to  him  in  a  flash  of  light,  and  he  fell 
under  the  power  of  God,  and  thus  received  his  vision. 

Seeing  so  many  gathered  round  him  there,  I  took 
a  light,  and  went  down  to  see  what  was  going  on.  As 
Boon  as  I  came  near  the  stump,  I  smelled  the  sul- 
phur of  the  pOAvder;  and  stepping  up  to  the  stump, 
there  was  clearly  the  sign  of  powder,  and  hard 
by  lay  the  cigar  with  which  he  had  ignited  it.  lie 
was  now  busy  delivering  his  message.  I  stepped  up 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  101 

to  hirL,  and  asked  him  if  an  angel  had  appeared  to 
him  in  that  flash  of  light. 

He  said,  "Yes." 

Said  I,  "  Sargent,  did  not  that  angel  smell  of  brim- 
etone?" 

"Why,"  said  he,  "do  you  ask  me  such  a  foolish 
question  ?" 

"Because,"  said  I,  "if  an  angel  has  spoken  to  you 
at  all  he  was  from  the  lake  that  burneth  with  fire  and 
brimstone!"  and  raising  my  voice,  I  said,  "I  smell 
sulphur  now !"  I  walked  up  to  the  stump,  and  called 
on  the  people  to  come  and  see  for  themselves.  The 
people  rushed  up,  and  soon  saw  through  the  trick, 
and  began  to  abuse  Sargent  for  a  vile  impostor.  He 
soon  left,  and  we  were  troubled  no  more  with  him  or 
his  brimstone  angels. 

I  will  beg  leave  to  remark  here  that  while  I  was 
battling  successfully  against  the  Halcyons,  I  was  treat- 
ed with  great  respect  by  the  Congregational  minister 
and  his  people,  and  the  Academy  was  always  open  for 
me  to  preach  in ;  but  as  soon  as  I  triumphed  over  and 
vanquished  them,  one  of  the  elders  of  the  Congrega- 
tional Church  waited  on  me  and  informed  me  that  it 
was  not  convenient  for  me  to  preach  any  more  in  their 
Academy.  I  begged  the  privilege  to  make  one  more 
appointment  in  the  Academy  till  I  could  get  some 
other  place  to  preach  in.  This  favor,  as  it  was  only 
one  more  time,  was  granted. 

I  then  prepared  myself,  and  when  my  appointed  day 
rolled  around,  the  house  was  crowded,  and  I  leveled 
my  whole  Arminian  artillery  against  their  Calvinism, 
and  challenged  their  minister,  who  was  present,  to 
public  debate;  but  he  thought  prudence  the  better 
part  of  valor,  and  declined.  This  effort  secured  me 
many  friends,  and  some  persecution :  but  my  way  was 


102  AUTOBiooRApnT  OF 


opened,  and  we  raised  a  little  class,  and  had  a  name 
among  the  living. 

I  will  here  mention  a  special  case  of  wild  fanaticism 
that  took  place  with  one  of  these  Halcyon  preachers 
while  I  was  on  this  circuit.  Ho  worked  himself  up 
into  the  belief  that  he  could  live  so  holy  in  this  life, 
that  his  animal  nature  would  become  immortal,  and 
that  he  would  never  die;  and  he  conceived  that  he 
had  gained  this  immortality,  and  could  live  without 
eating.  In  despite  of  all  the  arguments  and  per- 
suasions of  his  friends,  he  refused  to  eat  or  drink. 
He  stood  it  sixteen  days  and  nights,  and  then  died  a 
suicidal  death.  His  death  put  a  stop  to  this  foolish 
delusion,  and  threw  a  damper  over  the  whole  Halcyon 
fanaticism. 

I  will  her£  state  something  like  the  circumstances 
I  found  myself  in,  at  the  close  of  my  labors  on  this 
hard  circuit.  I  had  been  from  my  father's  house 
about  three  years;  was  five  hundred  miles  from  home; 
my  horse  had  gone  blind;  my  saddle  was  worn  out; 
my  bridle  reins  had  been  eaten  up  and  replaced  — 
after  a  sort  —  at  least  a  dozen  times;  and  my  clothes 
had  been  patched  till  it  was  difficult  to  detect  the 
original.  I  had  concluded  to  try  to  make  my  way 
home  and  get  another  outfit.  I  was  in  Marietta,  and 
had  just  seventy-five  cents  in  my  pocket.  How  I 
would  get  home  and  pay  my  way  I  could  not  tell. 

But  it  was  of  no  use  to  parley  about  it;  go  I  must, 
or  do  worse;  so  I  concluded  to  go  as  far  as  I  could, 
and  then  stop  and  work  for  more  means,  till  I  got 
home.  I  had  some  few  friends  on  the  way,  but  not 
many;  so  I  cast  ahead. 

My  first  day's  travel  was  through  my  circuit.  At 
about  thirty-five  miles'  distance  there  lived  a  brother, 
with  whom  I  intended  to  stay  all  night.  I  started. 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  108 

and  late  in  the  evening,  within  five  miles  of  my  stop- 
ping-place, fell  in  with  a  widow  lady,  not  a  member 
of  the  Church,  who  lived  several  miles  off  my  road. 
She  had  attended  my  appointments  in  that  settlement 
all  the  year.  After  the  usual  salutations,  she  asked 
me  if  I  was  leaving  the  circuit. 

I  told  her  I  was,  and  had  started  for  my  father's. 

"  Well,"  said  she,  "how  are  you  off  for  money?  t 
expect  you  have  received  Imt  little  on  this  circuit." 

I  told  her  I  had  but  seventy-five  cents  in  the  world. 
She  invited  me  home  with  her,  and  told  me  she  would 
give  me  a  liitle  to  help  me  on.  But  I  told  her  I  had 
my  places  fixed  to  stop  every  night  till  I  got  to  Mays- 
ville; and  if  I  went  home  with  her,  it  would  derange 
all  my  stages,  and  throw  me  among  strangers.  She 
then  handed  me  a  dollar,  saying  it  was  all  she  had 
with  her,  but  if  I  would  go  home  with  her,  she  would 
give  me  more.  I  declined  going  with  her,  thanked 
her  for  the  dollar,  bade  her  farewell,  moved  on,  and 
reached  my  lodging-place. 

By  the  time  I  reached  the  Ohio  river,  opposite 
Maysville,  my  money  was  all  gone.  I  was  in  trouble 
about  how  to  get  over  the  river,  for  I  had  nothing  to 
pay  my  ferriage. 

I  was  acquainted  with  brother  J.  Armstrong,  a  mer- 
chant in  Maysville,  and  concluded  to  tell  the  ferry- 
man that  I  had  no  money,  but  if  he  would  ferry  me 
over,  I  could  borrow  twenty-five  cents  from  Arm- 
strong, and  would  pay  him.  Just  as  I  got  to  the 
bank  of  the  river,  he  landed,  on  my  side,  with  a  man 
and  a  horse ;  and  when  the  man  reached  the  bank,  I 
saw  it  was  Colonel  M.  Shelby,  brother  to  Governor 
Shelby,  of  Kentucky.  He  was  a  lively  exhorter  in 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  an  .)ld  acquaint- 
ance and  neighbor  of  my  father's. 


104  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

When  he  saw  me,  he  exclaimed: 

"Peter,  is  that  you?" 

"  Yes,  Moses,"  said  I,  "  what  little  is  left  of  me." 

"  Well,"  said  he,  "  from  your  appearance  you  must 
have  seen  hard  times.  Are  you  trying  to  get  home?" 

"  Yes,"  I  answered. 

"  How  are  you  off  for  money,  Peter?"  said  he. 

"  Well,  Moses,"  said  I,  "  I  have  not  a  cent  in  the 
world." 

"  Well,"  said  he,  "  here  are  three  dollars,  and  I  will 
give  you  a  bill  of  the  road  and  a  letter  of  introduc- 
tion till  you  get  down  into  the  barrens,  at  the  Pilot 
Knob." 

You  may  be  sure  my  spirits  greatly  rejoiced.  So 
I  passed  on  very  well  for  several  days  and  nights  on 
the  Colonel's  money  and  credit,  but  when  I  came  to 
the  first  tavern  beyond  the  Pilot  Knob,  my  money 
was  out.  What  to  do  I  did  not  know,  but  I  rode  up 
and  asked  for  quarters.  I  told  the  landlord  I  had  no 
money;  had  been  three  years  from  home,  and  was 
trying  to  get  back  to  my  father's.  I  also  told  him  I 
had  a  little  old  watch,  and  a  few  good  books  in  my 
saddle-bags,  and  I  would  compensate  him  in  some 
way.  He  bade  me  alight  and  be  easy. 

On  inquiry  I  found  this  family  had  lived  here  from 
an  early  day,  totally  destitute  of  the  Gospel  and  all 
religious  privileges.  There  were  three  rooms  in  this 
habitation,  below — the  dining-room  and  a  back  bed- 
room, and  the  kitchen.  The  kitchen  was  separated 
from  the  other  lower  rooms  by  a  thin,  plunk  partition, 
set  up  on  end ;  and  the  planks  had  shrunk  and  left 
considerable  cracks  between  them. 

When  we  were  about  to  retire  to  bed,  I  asked  the 
landlord  if  he  had  any  objection  to  our  praying  before 
we  laid  down.  He  said,  l\  None  at  all,"  and  stepped 


PETER    CARTTTRiaHT.  105 

into  the  kitchen,  as  I  supposed,  to  bring  in  the  family, 
lie  quickly  returned  with  a  candle  in  his  hand,  and 
said,  "Follow  me."  I  followed  into  the  back  bed- 
room. Whereupon  he  set  down  the  candle,  and  bade 
me  good-night,  saying,  "  There,  you  can  pray  as  much 
as  you  please." 

I  stood,  and  felt  foolish.  He  had  completely  ousted 
me;  but  it  immediately  occurred  to  me  that  I  would 
kneel  down  and  pray  with  a  full  and  open  voice;  so 
down  I  knelt,  and  commenced  praying  audibly.  1 
soon  found,  from  the  commotion  created  in  the 
kitchen,  that  they  were  taken  by  surprise  as  much  as 
I  had  been.  I  distinctly  heard  the  landlady  say, 
"  He  is  crazy,  and  will  kill  us  all  this  night.  Go, 
husband,  and  see  what  is  the  matter."  But  he  was 
slow  to  approach;  and  when  I  ceased  praying  he 
came  in,  and  asked  me  what  was  the  cause  of  my  act- 
ing in  this  strange  way.  I  replied,  "  Sir,  did  you  not 
give  me  the  privilege  to  pray  as  much  as  I  pleased?'' 
"Yes,"  said  he,  "but  I  did  not  expect  you  would 
pray  out."  I  told  him  I  wanted  the  family  to  hear 
prayer,  and  as  he  had  deprived  me  of  that  privilege, 
I  knew  of  no  better  way  to  accomplish  my  object 
than  to  do  as  I  had  done,  and  I  hoped  he  would  not 
be  offended. 

I  found  he  thought  me  deranged,  but  we  fell  into  a 
free  conversation  on  the  subject  of  religion,  and,  1 
think,  I  fully  satisfied  him  that  I  was  not  beside  my- 
self, but  spoke  forth  the  words  of  truth  with  soberness. 

Next  morning  I  rose  early,  intending  to  go  fifteen 
miles  to  an  acquaintance  for  breakfast,  but  as  I  was 
getting  my  horse  out  of  the  stable  the  landlord  came 
out,  and  insisted  that  I  should  not  leave  till  after  break- 
fast. I  yielded,  but  he  would  not  have  any  thing  for 
my  fare,  and  urged  me  to  call  on  him  if  ever  I 


106  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

traveled  that  way  again.  I  will  just  say  here,  that  in 
less  than  six  months  I  called  on  this  landlord,  and  he 
and  his  lady  were  happily  converted,  dating  their  con- 
viction from  the  extraordinary  circumstances  of  the 
memorable  night  I  spent  with  them. 

I  found  other  friends  on  my  journey  till  I  reached 
Hopkinsville,  Christian  county,  within  thirty  miles 
of  my  father's,  and  I  had  just  six  and  a  quarter  cents 
left.  This  was  a  new  and  dreadfully-wicked  place.  I 
put  up  at  a  tavern  kept  by  an  old  Mr.  M'.  The 
landlord  knew  my  father.  I  told  him  I  had  not 
money  to  pay  my  bill,  but  as  soon  as  I  got  home  I 
would  send  it  to  him.  He  said,  "  Arery  well,"  and 
made  me  welcome.  His  lady  was  a  sister  of  the 
apostate  Dr.  Allen,  whom  I  have  elsewhere  mentioned. 

Shortly  after  I  laid  down  I  fell  asleep.  Suddenly 
I  was  aroused  by  a  piercing  scream,  or  screams,  of  a 
female.  I  supposed  that  somebody  was  actually  com- 
mitting murder.  I  sprung  from  my  bed,  and,  after 
getting  half  dressed,  ran  into  the  room  from  whence 
issued  the  piercing  screams,  and  called  out,  "What's 
the  matter  here  ?"  The  old  gentleman  replied,  that 
his  wife  was  subject  to  spasms,  and  often  had  them. 
I  commenced  a  conversation  with  her  about  religion. 
I  found  that  she  was  under  deep  concern  about  her 
soul.  I  asked  if  I  might  pray  for  her.  "  0,  yes," 
she  replied,  "  for  there  is  no  one  in  this  place  that 
cares  for  my  soul." 

I  knelt  and  prayed,  and  then  commenced  singing, 
and  directed  her  to  Christ  as  an  all-sufficient  Savior, 
and  prayed  again.  She  suddenly  sprung  out  of  the 
bed  and  shouted,  "  Glory  to  God  !  he  has  blessed  my 
soul."  It  was  a  happy  time  indeed.  The  old  gentle- 
man wept  like  a  child.  We  sung  and  shouted,  prayed 
and  praised,  nearly  all  night.  Next  morning  the 


PETER    CARTTTRIGI1T.  107 

old  landlord  told  me  my  bill  was  paid  tenfold,  and 
that  all  he  charged  me  was,  every  time  I  passed  tint 
way,  to  call  and  stay  with  them. 

Next  day  I  reached  home  with  the  six  and  a  quar 
ter  cents  unexpended.  Thus  I  have  given  you  a  very 
imperfect  little  sketch*  of  the  early  travel  of  a  Meth- 
odist preacher  in  the  Western  conference.  My  par 
ents  received  me  joyfully.  I  tarried  with  them  sev- 
eral weeks.  My  father  gave  me  a  fresh  horse,  a  bri- 
dle and  saddle,  some  new  clothes,  and  forty  dollars  in 
cash.  Thus  equipped,  I  was  ready  for  another  three 
years'  Absence. 

Our  conference,  this  year,  was  held  in  Chillicothe, 
September  14,  1807.  Our  increase  of  members  was 
one  thousand,  one  hundred  and  eighty;  increase  of 
traveling  preachers,  six.  From  the  conference  in 
Chillicothe  I  received  my  appointment  for  1807-8, 
on  Barren  circuit,  in  Cumberland  district,  James 
Ward  presiding  elder,  who  employed  Lewis  Ander- 
son to  travel  with  me.  This  brother  is  now  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Illinois  conference.  It  was  a  four  weeks' 
circuit  We  had  several  revivals  of  religion  in  differ- 
ent places.  The  circuit  reached  from  Barren  creek, 
north  of  Green  river,  to  the  head  of  Long  creek,  in 
Tennessee  state.  I  received  about  forty  dollars  quar- 
terage. We  had  an  appointment  near  Glasgow,  the 
county  seat  of  Barren  county.  A  very  singular  cir- 
cumstance took  place  in  this  circuit  this  year;  some- 
thing like  the  following: 

There  were  two  very  large  Baptist  Churches  eaa 
of  Glasgow.  These  Churches  had  each  very  talented 
and  popular  preachers  for  their  pastors,  by  the  name 
of  W.  and  H.  The  Baptists  were  numerous  and 
wealthy,  and  the  great  majority  of  the  citizens  were 
under  Baptist  influence.  The  Methodists  had  a 


108  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

small  class  of  about  thirteen  members.  There  lived 
in  the  settlement  a  gentleman  by  the  name  of  L., 
who  was  raised  under  the  Baptist  influence,  though 
not  a  member  of  the  Church.  His  lady  was  a  mem- 
ber of  one  of  these  large  Baptist  Churches.  Mr.  L. 
was  lingering  in  the  last  st'ages  of  consumption, 
but  without  religion.  These  Baptist  ministers  visited 
him  often,  and  advised,  and  prayed  with,  and  for 
him.  Learning  that  I  was  in  the  neighborhood,  he 
sent  for  me;  I  went;  he  seemed  fast  approaching  his 
end,  wasted  away  to  a  mere  skeleton;  he  had  to  be 
lifted,  like  a  child,  in  and  out  of  the  bed.  I  found 
him  penitent,  and  prayed  with  him,  sat  up  with  him, 
and  in  the  best  way  I  knew  I  pointed  him  to  Jesus. 
It  pleased  God  to  own  the  little  effort,  and  speak 
peace  to  his  troubled  soul;  he  was  very  happy  after 
this.  He  told  me  the  next  morning  that  he  wished 
to  be  baptized,  join  the  Church,  and  receive  the  sac- 
rament. In  the  mean  time  the  Baptist  ministers 
came  to  see  him,  and  as  I  knew  he  was  raised  under 
Baptist  denominational  influences,  I  was  at  a  loss  to 
know  how  to  act.  I  took  the  two  Baptist  ministers 
out,  and  said  to  them :  "  This  afflicted  brother  has 
obtained  religion,  and  he  desires  to  be  baptized,  join 
the  Church,  and  receive  the  sacrament.  And,"  said  I, 
"brethren,  you  must  now  take  the  case  into  your  own 
hands,  and  do  with  it  as  you  think  best.  He  was 
raised  a  Baptist,  and,  as  a  matter  of  course,  he  believes 
in  immersion.  And,"  said  I,  "my  opinion  is,  if  he  is 
immersed,  he  can  not  survive  it;  and  as  you  are 
strong  in  the  faith  of  immersion,  you  must  administer 
it." 

"No,  no,"  said  they;  "he  is  your  convert,  and  you 
must  do  all  he  desires.  We  believe,  as  well  as  you, 
that  he  can  not  be  immersed." 


OARTWRIQHT.  109 


"Now.  '  6<n<i  1,  '•luxjthi-ei:,  be  wants  not  only  to  be 
baptized,  but  wants  to  join  ihe  Churcb,  the  Baptist 
Churcb  of  course;  and  if  I  bapJzo  him  by  sprinkling 
or  pouring,  you  will  not  receive  lum  into  the  Baptist 
Church;  or,  in  other  words,  if  I  do,  vriU  you  receive 
him  into  your  Church?" 

"Well,  no,"  said  they  ;  "we  can  not  uo  IV 
"Now,"  said  I,  "brethren,  this  is  a  very  solemn  af 
fair.  You  will  not  baptize  him  and  take  him  into  your 
Church;  and  if  I  baptize  him,  still  you  will  not  ic- 
ceive  him.  There  must  be  something  wrong  atoat 
this  very  solemn  matter." 

They  then  said  they  would  have  nothing  to  do  with 
it;  that  I  must  manage  it  my  own  way.     I  then  went 
and  consulted  the  wife  of  the  sick  man.     I  told  her 
what  her  ministers  had  .said.     "Now,"  said  I,  "sis 
ter,  what  must  I  do?" 

Said  she,  "  Go  and  ask  my  husband,  and  do  as  ho 
wishes,  and  I  will  be  satisfied." 

I  went,  and  said,  "Brother  L.,  if  I  baptize  you,  it 
must  be  by  sprinkling  or  pouring;  you  can  not  be 
immersed." 

Said  he,  "I  know  I  can't,  and  I  am  willing  to  le 
baptized  in  any  mode;  it  is  not  essential." 

As  soon  as  preparation  was  made,  I  baptizod 
him  by  sprinkling,  and  then  proceeded  to  conse 
crate  the  elements  and  administer  the  sacrament. 
I  turned  and  invited  both  of  the  Baptist  ministers  to 
come  and  commune  with  the  dying  saint,  but  they 
refused.  Then  I  turned  to  his  wife,  and  invited  her 
to  come  and  commemorate  the  dying  sorrows  of  hei 
Savior  with  her  dying  husband.  She  paused  for  u 
moment,  and  then,  bursting  into  a  flood  of  tears,  sail, 
"I  will;"  and  came  forward,  and  I  administered  to 
them  both. 


110  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

After  this  I  said,  "  Brother  L.,  do  you  wish  U 
have  your  name  enrolled  with  the  members  of  the 
little  class  of  Methodists  that  worship  in  the  neigh- 
borhood?" 

He  said,  "  0,  yes :"  and  then  added,  "  before  you 
get  round  your  circuit  I  shall  be  no  more  on  earth, 
and  I  wish  you  to  preach  my  funeral." 

After  consultation  with  his  wife,  I  left  an  appoint- 
ment for  his  funeral.  In  a  few  days  he  breathed  his 
last,  and  went  off  triumphant. 

When  I  carne  to  the  appointment  there  was  a  vast 
crowd.  We  had  a  very  solemn  time.  I  stated  all 
the  circumstances  above  narrated,  and  at  the  close 
[  opened  the  door  of  the  Church,  and  Mrs.  L.  and 
six  others  of  her  relatives,  all  members  of  the  Baptist 
Church,  came  forward  and.  joined  the  Methodists. 
This  circumstance  gave  us  a  standing  that  enabled 
us  to  lift  our  heads  and  breathe  more  freely  after- 
ward. 

In  the  course  of  this  year  we  carried  Methodist 
preaching  into  a  Baptist  congregation  on  Bacon 
creek.  A  great  many  of  their  members  gave  up 
Calvinism,  close  communion,  and  immersion,  and 
joined  the  Methodist  Church;  and  we  took  possession 
of  their  meeting-house,  and  raised  a  large  society 
there,  that  flourishes  to  this  day.  Out  of  this  re- 
vival several  preachers  were  raised  up  that  trained 
and  blessed  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  for  years 
afterward. 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  HI 


CHAPTER    X. 

MEETING    IN    A    WAGON. 

OWING  to  the  newness  of  the  country,  the  scarcity  of 
money,  the  fewness  of  our  numbers,  and  their  poverty, 
it  was  a  very  difficult  matter  for  preachers  to  obtain 
a  support,  especially  married  men  with  families. 
From  this  consideration  many  of  our  preachers 
delayed  marriage,  or,  shortly  after  marriage,  located. 
Indeed,  such  was  our  poverty,  that  the  Discipline  was 
a  perfectly  dead  letter  on  the  subject  of  .house  rent, 
table  expenses,  and  a  dividend  to  children ;  and  al- 
though I  had  acted  as  one  of  the  stewards  of  the  con- 
ference for  years,  these  rules  of  the  Discipline  were 
nevei  acted  upon,  or  any  allowance  made,  till  1813, 
when  Bishop  Asbury,  knowing  our  poverty  and  suf- 
ferings in  the  west,  had  begged  from  door  to  door  in 
the  older  conferences,  and  came  on  and  distributed 
ten  dollars  to  each  child  of  a  traveling  preacher  un 
der  fourteen  years  of  age. 

After  mature  deliberation  and  prayer,  toward  the 
close  of  my  labors  on  the  Barren  circuit,  I  thought  it 
was  my  duty  to  marry,  and  was  joined  in  marriage  to 
Frances  Gaines,  on  the  18th  of  August,  1808,  which 
was  her  nineteenth  birthday;  and  we  had  our  infare 
at  my  father's,  on  the  1st  of  September  following, 
which  was  my  twenty-third  birthday. 

The  conference,  this  fall,  was  held  at  Liberty  Hill, 
Tennessee,  on  the  1st  of  October,  1808.  Our  increase 
in  menr-ors  this  year  was  about  one  thousand,  diree 


112  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

hundred  and  fifty;  our  increase  of  traveling  preach- 
ers was  ten.  We  had  three  new  presiding-eldcr  dis- 
tricts formed  this  year,  namely,  Indiana,  Miami,  and 
Muskingum,  making  seven  presiding-elder  districts 
n  the  Western  conference. 

At  this  conference  I  was  elected  and  ordained  an 
elder  by  Bishop  M'Kendree.  The  parchment  reads 
as  follows,  namely: 

"  Know  all  men  by  these  presents,  that  I,  William 
M'Kendree,  one  of  the  Bishops  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  in  America,  under  the  protection  of 
almighty  God,  and  with  a  single  eye  to  his  glory, 
by  the  imposition  of  my  hands  and  prayer — being 
assisted  by  the  elders  present — have  this  day  set  apart 
Peter  Cartwright  for  the  office  of  an  elder  in  the  said 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  ;  a  man  whom  I  judge  to 
be  well  qualified  for  that  work ;  and  I  do  hereby  rec- 
ommend him,  to  all  whom  it  may  concern,  as  a 
proper  person  to  administer  the  sacraments  and  or- 
dinances, and  to  feed  the  flock  of  Christ,  so  long  as 
his  spirit  and  practice  are  such  as  become  the 
Gospel  of  Christ. 

"In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my 
hand  and  seal,  this  fourth  day  of  October,  in  the  year 
of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eight. 
"WILLIAM  M'KENDUEE. 

"LIBERTY  IJiu,,  TKNNESSKE." 

My  appointment,  this  year,  was  to  Salt  River  cir- 
cuit, Kentucky  district,  James  Ward  presiding  elder. 
This  was  a  part  of  the  circuit  I  had  traveled  in  the 
years  1804  and  1805. 

In  the  course  of  this  year  my  father  died,  and  left 
me  to  settle  his  little  estate,  which,  owing  to  the  forms 
of  law,  took  me  several  months,  which  was  the  longest 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  113 

time  I  have  ever  had  from  the  regular  work  of  a 
traveling  preacher  in  fifty  years;  but  upon  a  proper 
presentation  of  the  case  to  my  presiding  elder,  he 
gave  me  liberty  to  go  and  attend  to  this  business. 
Giving  me  this  liberty  by  the  presiding  elder  was  then 
according  to  Discipline. 

At  the  close  of  the  conference  year  1808-9,  I  at- 
tended conference  at  Cincinnati,  and  there  reported 
myself  ready  for  regular  work,  and  my  appointment 
was  to  Livingston  circuit.  Our  increase  of  member- 
ship was  four  thousand  and  fifty-one;  our  increase  of 
traveling  preachers  was  twenty-one. 

Livingston  circuit  was  in  the  Cumberland  district, 
Learner  Blackman  presiding  elder.  This  was  my  first 
field  of  labor  as  an  exhorter;  which  circuit  I  had 
formed  in  the  days  of  my  boyhood,  and  had  then  re 
turned  to  J.  Page,  presiding  elder,  seventy  members 
They  had  increased  now  to  four  hundred  and  twenty- 
seven  ;  a  good  increase  for  six  years. 

We  had  not  a  very  prosperous  year,  but  we  had 
some  gracious  outpourings  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  I 
held  a  camp  meeting  this  year,  which  lasted  four  days 
and  nights,  without  any  ministerial  aid,  save  one  little 
exhorter  and  an  old  drunken  Baptist  preacher,  who 
preached  for  me  once,  on  Sunday.  He  then  and  there 
confessed  his  dissipation,  and  wept  bitterly,  and  made 
us  all  cry.  We  had  about  thirty  converts  at  this 
meeting.  At  the  close  of  the  meeting  we  had  many 
seekers  who  had  not  obtained  comfort.  Twelve  of 
them  got  into  a  two-horse  wagon,  and  myself  with 
them.  We  had  to  go  about  fifteen  miles,  but  before 
we  reached  our  home  every  one  of  them  got  power- 
fully converted,  and  we  sung  and  shouted  aloud  along 
the  road,  to  the  very  great  astonishment  of  those  who 
livt  d  along  the  way.  That  night  the  whole  neighbor- 


114  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

hood  gathered  In,  and  we  had  a  glorious  time.  Sev- 
eral more  were  powerfully  converted,  and  many 
deeply  convicted.  The  work  broke  out  around  the 
settlement,  and  scores  were  brought  to  a  saving 
knowledge  of  the  truth. 

I  will  here  relate  an  incident  that  took  place 
this  year,  concerning  one  of  our  Methodist  preach- 
ers; his  name  was  J.  D.  He  was  raised  a  very 
bigoted  Dunker,  or,  as  they  are  sometimes  denomi- 
nated, Seventh-Day  Baptists.  When  the  Methodist 
preachers  came  into  his  settlement  he  violently  op- 
posed them,  asserting  the  Dunkers  were  right  and 
every  body  else  wrong.  After  a  while,  however,  he 
cither  really  or  pretendedly  got  under  deep  convic- 
tion and  professed  religion.  (This  was  when  the  Meth- 
odists had  borne  down  all  opposition  and  become 
popular.)  He  joined  the  Methodists,  and  they  soon 
licensed  him  to  preach.  Now  he  had  found  the  right 
way,  and  all  the  rest  were  wrong.  He  had  consider- 
able talent,  but  was  a  very  lazy  man.  However,  the 
Methodists  got  him  on  a  circuit  awhile,  and  he  was 
popular,  but  did  not  get  money  enough  to  support 
him ;  so  he  located,  and  went  into  land  speculations, 
and  got  under  par  as  a  good  man.  This  year  he 
moved  into  the  bounds  of  my  circuit,  and  we  renewed 
our  former  acquaintance,  preached  together  often, 
and  really  we  were  in  a  fair  way  of  doing  much 
good.  We  broke  into  a  very  large  Freewill-Baptist 
settlement,  where  the  preacher  was  a  very  weak 
brother.  We  rose  high  in  public  opinion,  and  the 
Baptists  offered  us  a  good  salary  if  we  would  join 
them  and  become  their  pastor.  This  was  a  little  too 
much  for  my  brother  D.  lie  came  to  me  one  day 
and  said,  "Brother  Ca-rtwright,  you  and  I  have 
young  and  growing  families:  if  we  would  join  thr  •* 


PETER   CART  WRIGHT.  115 

Baptists  tney  would  give  us  a  handsome  support,  and 
as  they  have  no  preacher  in  all  this  country  of  any 
talents,  we  could  sway  a  mighty  influence,  getting 
hundreds  into  our  Church,  and  secure  a  good  living 
for  our  families  in  all  time  to  come.  Do  n't  you 
think,"  said  he,  " it  would  be  best  to  do  it?"  I  re- 
plied: "Brother  D.,  'get  thee  behind  me,  Satan, 
for  thou  art  an  offense  to  me.'  If  money,  sir,  or  a 
good  living  had  been  ray  prime  object  in  joining  a 
Church,  I  should  never  have  joined  the  Methodists ; 
but  when  I  joined  them  I  joined  them  from  a  firm  con- 
viction, believing  them  to  be  the  best  people  in  the 
world;  and  the  longer  I  live  with  them,  and  the  more 
I  understand  of  their  doctrine  and  system  of  Church 
government,  the  more  firmly  I  am  settled  in  mind  to 
abide  my  choice;  and  this  world  has  not  treasure 
enough  to  allure  me  from  the  Methodist  Church." 

Poor  human  nature!  The  temptation  was  too 
strong.  Brother  D.  yielded,  joined  the  Freewill- 
Baptists,  and  was  soon  installed  their  pastor.  Well, 
now,  he  proclaimed,  he  had  certainly  found  the 
right  way,  and  all  the  world  was  wrong.  Well,  it 
was  not  long  before  he  was  caught  in  a  criminal  act, 
ruined  his  moral  character,  and  was  dismissed  from 
his  pastoral  charge.  I  will  here  say  that  this  said 
J.  D.  was  formerly  my  armor-bearer  in  the  great 
contest  I  had  with  the  Shakers  at  Busroe,  in  In- 
diana, mentioned  elsewhere  in  this  narrative.  What 
next?  Why,  J.  D.  -went  and  joined  the  Shak- 
ers ;  and  now  from  heaven  God  had  revealed  it  to 
him  that  he  was  right  and  every  body  else  wrong. 
The  Shakers,  hearing  of  his  instability  of  character, 
ha/,  very  little  confidence  in  him.  They  put  him  to 
hard  labor  to  try  him.  This  he  could  not  stand;  and 
presently  left  them,  took  up  with  a  scattered  band  of 


l!6  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

New  Lights,  moved  to  Texas,  and  I  expect  the  devil 
has  got  him  in  safe-keeping  long  before  this  time. 

Our  increase  for  1809-10  was  1,950.  Increase  of 
traveling  preachers,  fifteen. 

At  this  conference  I  was  returned  to  Livingston 
circuit,  Cumberland  district;  Learner  Blackman  pre- 
siding elder.  At  the  close  of  this  year,  1810-11, 
we  met  at  New  Chapel,  Shelby  county,  Kentucky, 
November  1,  1810.  Our  increase  of  members,  this 
conference  year,  4,264;  increase  of  traveling  preach- 
ers, thirteen. 

The  Western  conference  met  the  last  time  as  the 
Western  conference,  at  Cincinnati,  October  1,  1811, 
and  our  increase  this  year  was  3,600.  Our  increase 
in  preachers  was  ten.  Our  strength  of  membership 
in  the  entire  Western  conference  at  its  last  session 
as  a  Western  conference,  was  30,741.  In  1787  we 
had  but  ninety  members  that  were  officially  reported 
from  the  west;  and  if,  as  we  have  elsewhere  stated, 
that  at  the  General  conference  of  1st  May,  1800,  in 
Baltimore,  the  Western  conference  was  regularly 
organized,  with  about  two  thousand  members,  the 
reader  will  plainly  see  what  God  wrought  in  eleven 
years  by  the  pioneer  fathers  that  planted  Methodism 
in  this  vast  western  wilderness;  and  of  the  little 
band  of  traveling  preachers  that  then  plowed  the 
wilderness,  say  twelve  men,  none  are  now  living 
save  Mr.  Henry  Smith.  In  the  fall  of  1803,  when 
[  joined  the  conference,  there  were  a  little  over 
9,000  members  in  the  Western  conference;  in  1811, 
30,741.  There  were  then  a  little  over  forty  traveling 
preachers,  and  in  1810  over  one  hundred;  and' 
yet,  at  this  time,  there  are  not  more  than  six  of  us 
left  lingering  on  the  shores  of  'time  to  look  back, 
look  around,  and  look  forward  to  the  future  of  the 


PETER   CARTWRJGHT.  117 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  for  weal  or  for  woe 
Lord,  save  the  Church  from  desiring  to  have  pews, 
choirs,  organs,  or  instrumental  music,  and  a  congre- 
gational ministry,  like  other  heathen  Churches  around 
them! 

In  1804  the  membership  of  the  whole  Church  was 
119,945,  traveling  preachers  433,  throughout  the 
United  States,  territories,  and  Canada.  Their  increase 
this  year,  throughout  the  Union,  was  6,811.  In  1812, 
when  the  Western  conference  was  divided  into  Ohio 
and  Tennessee  conferences,  our  entire  membership 
had  increased  to  184,567;  increase  of  members  in 
eight  years,  near  65,000.  Traveling  ministers  in 
1804,433;  in  1812,  688. 

In  1811  we  elected  our  delegates  to  the  first  dele- 
gated General  conference  ever  held  by  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church.  This  General  conference 
was  held  in  New  York,  1st  May,  1812.  At  this 
General  conference,  the  Western  conference,  which 
had  existed  some  twelve  years,  was  divided  into  two 
annual  conferences,  called  Ohio  and  Tennessee.  The 
Ohio  conference  was  composed  of  the  following  pre- 
siding-elder  districts,  namely :  Ohio  district,  Muskin- 
gum  district,  Scioto  district,  Miami  district,  Ken- 
tucky district,  and  Salt  River  district :  six.  Tennessee 
conference  was  composed  of  the  following  districts, 
namely :  Holston  district,  Nashville  district,  Cumber- 
land district,  Wabash  district,  Mississippi  district, 
and  Louisiana  district:  six.  It  will  be  seen  that  the 
state  of  Kentucky  was  divided  between  the  two  con- 
ferences. There  were  members  in  Ohio  conference, 
23,284;  in  Tennessee  conference,  22,700.  There 
were  in  Ohio  conference,  traveling  preachers,  sixty- 
four;  in  Tennessee,  sixty-two.  These  statistics  aro 
for  1812. 


118  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

1  wa?  appointed  to  Christian  circuit,  W abash  dis 
trict ;  James  Axley  presiding  elder.  This  was  a  four 
weeks'  circuit,  most  of  it  parts  and  fragments  of  other 
circuits.  I  formed  it  into  a  four  weeks'  circuit.  We 
had  some  splendid  revivals  this  year,  and  took  in 
some  three  hundred  members.  We  had  two  or  three 
very  successful  camp  meetings ;  at  one  of  them  I  bap- 
tized one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  adult  persons  and 
forty-seven  children,  all  by  sprinkling,  save  seven 
adults,  whom  I  immersed.  One  of  them  was  the 
daughter  of  a  very  celebrated  Baptist  minister. 

In  the  north  end  of  my  circuit  there  was  a  district 
of  densely-populated  country,  about  thirty-five  miles 
across.  A  Methodist  pi.«acher  had  seldom,  even  if 
ever,  preached  in  this  district  of  country.  About 
midway  of  it  there  lived  a  Bnptist  minister,  with  a 
large  society  and  a  large  meeting-house.  He,  at  an 
early  day,  had  settled  among  them,  and  prejudiced 
nearly  all  the  country  against  the  Methodist  preachers 
and  people. 

I  had  to  make  a  day's  ride  through  this  settlement 
every  round,  and  thought  it  singular  that  no  Method- 
ist preacher,  as  I  could  learn,  had  ever  made  a  break 
in  it;  and  I  determined  to  make  one  in  this  region 
fiomehow  or  somewhere.  While  riding  through,  1 
etopped  at  many  houses,  and  asked  for  the  privilege 
to  preach  among  them.  They  looked  shy,  and  denied 
me.  I  prayed  God  to  open  my  way;  and  at  length, 
through  an  acquaintance  I  had  made,  left  an  appoint- 
ment to  preach  at  the  Baptist  meeting-house  on  my 
next  round. 

The  Baptist  minister  publicly  warned  the  people 
not  to  hear  me;  but  somehow  the  novelty  of  the 
thing  excited  their  curiosity,  and  though  a  week- 
day, a  large  congregation  turned  out,  and  among  the 


PETER   CARTWUIQUT.  H9 

»68t,  their  preacher.  He  told  me  he  should  not  hinder 
me  that  time  from  preaching  in  his  meeting-house; 
"but,"  said  he,  "you  must  leave  no  more  appoint- 
ments at  iny  church,  or  if  you  do,  you  will  find  the 
doors  barred  against  you."  Well,  I  had  to  submit. 
I  went  in,  and  preached  as  well  as  I  could,  and  the 
congregation  were  considerably  affected,  even  to 
weeping.  I  called  on  the  Baptist  minister  to  con- 
clude, but  he  refused;  so  after  closing  the  services, 
I  told  the  congregation  that  I  could  preach  to  them 
every  round,  but  that  their  minister  had  forbidden 
me  the  use  of  his  meeting  house  any  more;  but  if 
there  was  any  man  present  that  would  open  his 
private  house  for  me  to  preach  in,  I  would  leave  an 
appointment.  A  gentleman  rose  up,  arid  tendered 
me  the  use  of  his  house,  and  invited  me  home  with 
him  for  dinner;  so  I  left  an  appointment,  and  went 
with  this  man  and  partook  of  his  hospitalities. 

When  I  came  round  to  my  appointment,  the  house 
was  filled  to  overflowing,  though  large.  While  I  was 
preaching,  near  the  close  of  the  discourse,  suddenly 
the  power  of  God  fell  on  the  congregation  like  a  flash 
of  lightning,  and  the  people  fell  right  and  left;  some 
screamed  aloud  for  mercy,  others  fell  on  their  knees 
and  prayed  out  aloud;  several  Baptist  members  fell 
to  the  floor  under  the  power  of  God.  There  was  a 
Baptist  preacher  present.  After  I  had  talked,  and 
exhorted,  and  sung  a  long  time,  I  called  on  this 
preacher  to  pray,  but  he  was  so  astounded  that,  he 
told  me,  he  could  not  pray.  Our  meeting  lasted 
nearly  all  night.  About  twelve  persons  were  con- 
verted in  the  good  old  way,  and  shouted  aloud  the 
praises  of  God.  I  opened  the  doors  of  the  Church, 
and  thirteen  came  forward  and  joined.  From  this 
time  the  work  broke  out  and  many  professed  religion, 


120  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

ani  we  succeeded  in  planting  Methodism  on  a  firm 
footing  here.  The  Baptist  minister  who  was  pastor  of 
the  congregation  that  worshiped  at  the  meeting-house 
where  I  preached,  had  a  dreadful  rude  set  of  children, 
especially  a  daughter  whom  they  called  Betsy.  She 
would  stand  on  the  seats,  point  and  laugh,  and  when 
any  would  fall  under  the  power  of  God,  she  would 
say  it  was  nothing  hut  a  Methodist  fit. 

At  a  camp  meeting  this  summer,  held  on  the  land 
of  R.  Dellam,  Esq.,  now  of  St.  Louis,  a  fine  man,  old 
Valentine  Cook,  of  precious  memory,  attended  with 
me,  and  labored  like  a  true  minister  of  Christ.  There 
was  a  large  crowd  of  people,  and  mostly  raised  under 
old  Baptist  influence  and  prejudice,  and  as  ignorant 
of  Methodism  and  the  power  of  religion  as  the  beasts 
that  perish.  There  were  several  preachers  to  aid 
brother  Cook  and  myself,  but  all  our  preaching 
seemed  powerless.  The  meeting  dragged  heavily 
till  Sunday.  Brother  Cook  and  myself  walked  out  to 
pray ;  when  we  rose  from  our  knees,  brother  Cook 
said  to  me : 

"Brother,  have  you  any  faith?" 

"A  little,"  I  replied. 

"I  have  some,"  said  he. 

We  were  both  to  preach  in  succession,  commencing 
at  eleven  o'clock.  He  was  to  preach  first,  and  I  to 
follow.  Said  he  to  me : 

"If  I  strike  fire,  I  will  immediately  call  for 
mourners,  and  you  must  go  into  the  assembly 
and  exhort  in  every  direction,  and  I  will  manage 
the  altar.  But,"  said  he,  "if  I  fail  to  strike  fire, 
you  must  preach;  and  if  you  strike  fire,  call  the 
mourners  and  manage  the  altar.  I  will  go  through 
the  congregation,  and  exhort  w  t-h  all  the  power  God 
gives  me/' 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  121 

We  repaired  to  the  stand.  He  preached  ;  it  seemed 
as  if  every  word  took  effect.  There  was  no  outbreak ; 
the  vast  crowd  were  melted  into  silent  tears.  When 
he  closed,  he  bade  me  rise  and  preach.  I  did  so. 
Just  as  I  was  closing  up  my  sermon,  and  pressing  ]t 
with  all  the  force  I  could  command,  the  power  of 
God  suddenly  was  displayed,  and  sinners  fell  by 
scores  through  all  the  assembly.  We  had  no  need  of 
a  mourners'  bench.  It  was  supposed  that  several 
hundred  fell  in  five  minutes;  sinners  turned  pale; 
some  ran  into  the  woods;  some  tried  to  get  away  and 
fell  in  the  attempt ;  some  shouted  aloud  for  joy ; 
among  the  rest  my  Baptist  preacher's  daughter, 
whom  we  have  called  Betsy.  As  I  went  through 
the  assembly,  I  came  across  Betsy,  who  had  fallen  to 
the  earth,  and  was  praying  at  a  mighty  rate.  When 
I  came  to  her,  she  said  to  me : 

"  0,  do  pray  for  me ;  I  am  afraid  I  am  lost  am7 
damned  forever!" 

I  said  to  her,  "  Betsy,  get  up ;  you  have  only  got  » 
Methodist  fit,"  using  her  former  language ;  but  she 
roared  the  louder  two  or  three  times.  I  bid  her  get 
up,  saying  to  her,  "  You  are  playing  the  hypocrite, 
and  have  only  got  a  Methodist  fit;  get  up,  Betsy." 
But  I  assure  you  she  was  past  getting  up.  Just  hard 
by  I  saw  her  father,  the  Baptist  preacher.  He  was 
crying,  and  shaking  every  joint  in  him.  I  went  to 
him,  and  said,  "  Brother  A.,  come  and  pray  for 
Betsy."  He  replied : 

"  Lord  have  mercy  on  me !     I  can  not  pray." 

"  Amen,"  said  I.  "  Pray  on,  brother  A. ;  the  Lord 
will  have  mercy."  I  then  exhorted  Betsy,  and 
prayed  for  her.  If  ever  I  saw  the  great  deep  of  a 
sinner's  heart  broken  up,  hers  was.  She  wrestled 
and  prayed  all  night.  Next  morning,  about  sunrise. 


l'J2  AUTOBIOGHAPHY    OF 

the  Lord  in  a  powerful  manner  converted  her.  She 
rose  and  went  over  the  camp-ground  like  a  top.  She 
at  length  met  her  father,  the  preacher,  and  of  all  the 
exhortations  that  I  ever  heard  fall  from  the  lips  of  a 
mortal,  hers  was  the  most  powerful  to  her  father 
She  said  to  him  : 

"You,  father,  have  taught  me  from  my  childhood 
to  hate  and  despise  the  Methodists,  till  my  soul  was 
well-nigh  lost  and  ruined  forever." 

She  then  assured  him  that  he  had  no  religion  at 
all,  and  begged  him  to  repent  and  get  his  soul  con- 
verted. She  made  him  kneel  down,  and  she  engaged 
for  him  in  mighty  prayer. 

About  eleven  o'clock  on  Monday  I  opened  the 
doors  of  the  Church,  and  forty-two  joined,  and  among 
the  rest,  Betsy.  From  this  meeting  a  revival  spread 
almost  through  the  entire  country  round,  and  great 
additions  were  made  to  the  Methodist  Church.  The 
circuit  was  large,  embracing  parts  of  Logan,  Muhl- 
enburg,  Butler,  Christian,  and  Caldwell  counties,  in 
Kentucky,  and  parts  of  Montgomery,  Dixon,  and 
Stewart  counties,  in  Tennessee. 

On  the  west  part  of  Red  river  there  was  a  Pres- 
byterian minister  settled,  who  had  a  large  brick 
church.  lie  had  settled  at  an  early  day,  and  the  few 
scattered  Methodists  .who  lived  in  the  bounds  of  his 
congregation,  having  no  Methodist  preaching,  had 
joined  his  Church  rathor  than  live  out  of  Church  al- 
together. I  was  invited  to  preach  about  five  miles 
from  this  minister's  church.  I  sent  an  appointment. 
At  the  time  a  large  congregation  turned  out ;  the 
people  were  deeply  affected.  Wiiv?n  I  closed,  I 
stated  to  the  assembly  that  I  could  preach  to  them 
every  four  weeks,  if  they  desired  it.  They  told  me 
they  did,  and  I  accordingly  left  another  appoint- 


PETER   CARTWRIGHT.  123 

ment.  When  I  came  the  house  was  crowded,  and  the 
Presbyterian  minister  came.  I  preached,  and  there 
was  a  general  weeping  all  through  the  congregation 
The  minister  concluded  for  me,  and  I  left  another  ap- 
pointment. The  minister  staid  and  dined  with  me. 
After  dinner  he  asked  me  to  walk  out  with  him.  I 
did  so.  When  we  had  seated  ourselves,  he  told  me 
he  wanted  to  talk  to  me  about  my  preaching  in  that 
neighborhood.  He  said  that  this  neighborhood  waa 
in  the  bounds  of  his  congregation ;  that  I  was  heartily 
welcome  to  preach ;  but,  said  he,  you  must  not 
attempt  to  raise  any  society.  I  told  him  that  was 
not  our  way  of  doing  business ;  that  we  seldom  ever 
preached  long  at  any  place  without  trying  to  raise  a 
society.  He  said  I  must  not  do  it.  I  told  him  the 
people  were  a  free  people  and  lived  in  a  free  country, 
and  must  and  ought  to  be  allowed  to  do  as  they 
pleased ;  that  I  should  never  condescend  to  try  to 
proselyte;  but  if  I  continued  to  preach  there,  and  if 
any  of  the  people  desired  to  join  the  Methodist 
Church,  I  should  surely  give  them  the  privilege  to  do 
so;  and  that  I  understood  there  were  ten  or  twelve 
members  of  the  Methodist  Church  had  joined  his 
Church  as  Methodists,  with  the  fair  understanding 
that  if  the  Methodists  ever  organized  a  society  con- 
venient to  them,  they  were  to  have  the  privilege  of 
joining  their  own  Church  without  any  hard  thoughts 
or  censures.  He  said  that  was  true ;  but  if  we  raised 
a  society  it  would  diminish  his  membership,  and 
cut  off  his  support.  "  Well,"  said  I,  "  my  dear  sir, 
if  the  people  want  me  to  preach  to  them  I  shall  do 
it,  and  if  they  desire  to  join  our  Church  I  shall 
take  them  in ;  and  I  intend,,  when  I  come  next  time, 
to  organize  a  class,  for  several  have  desired  me  to  do 
fo."  Said  he,  "I  will  be  here,  and  will  openly  op- 


124  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    O.V 

pose  you.'  Said  I,  "  If  you  think  that  tbe  beet  way. 
do  so."  WLilo  I  w^s  absent  for  three  Subbatks  suc- 
cessively, he  opened  his  batteries  on  me,  told  them 
what  I  had  said,  and  w^vned  them  not  to  attend  my 
meeting.  This  roused  the  whole  country,  and  madt» 
me  many  fast  friends ;  even  his  own  members  remon- 
strated against  his  course,  saying  to  him,  nobodr 
was  obliged  to  join  the  Methodists,  and  if  they  pro 
ferred  the  Methodist  Church  to  his,  it  was  their  right 
to  join  it. 

When  I  came  round  we  had  a  vast  crowd  out,  bu' 
the  minister  did  not  appear.  At  the  close  of  my  ser 
mon  I  read  our  General  Rules,  and  explained  our  econ 
omy.  I  then  told  them  that  my  father  had  fough 
in  the  Revolution  to  gain  our  freedom  and  liberty  of 
conscience ;  that  I  felt  that  my  Presbyterian  brothei 
had  no  bill  of  sale  of  the  people ;  that  I  was  no  rob- 
ber of  Churches;  but  if  I  had  any  members  in  mr 
Church  that  liked  the  Presbyterians  better  than  tin-. 
Methodists,  I  wanted  them  to  go  and  join  them ;  but 
if  there  were  any  there  that  day  that  believed  the 
Methodist  doctrine,  and  were  willing  to  conform  to  the 
Discipline  of  the  Methodist  Church,  arid  desired  to 
join  us,  let  them  come  and  give  me  their  hand,  and  1 
would  form  them  into  a  class  and  appoint  them  a 
leader.  There  were  twenty-seven  came  forward; 
thirteen  of  them  were  members  of  this  minister's 
Church.  I  publicly  ascertained  this  fact,  and  then 
told  the  thirteen  that  I  did  not  want  to  give  any 
offense,  and  that  I  wanted  them  all  to  go  to  their 
next  meeting,  and  ask  a  letter,  stating  their  reasons, 
and  I  would  receive  them  into  full  membership  at 
once.  One  of  them,  a  fine,  intelligent  man,  and  an 
elder,  said  that  he  knew  they  would  not  give  them 
letters.  I  remarked,  "  Go  and  ask  for  them ;  and  if 


JETER  UAETWBI6HV  12,') 

they  refuse,  come  back,  and  I  will  receivo  you  any 
how."  They  went,  but  the  Church  would  not  give 
them  letters,  although  there  was  nothing  against  their 
moral  characters.  After  that  I  received  them  into 
the  Methodist  Church.  Public  opinion  was  in  my 
favor,  and  many  more  of  this  preacher's  members 
came  and  joined  us,  and  the  minister  sold  out  and 
moved  to  Missouri,  and  before  the  year  was  out  I 
had  peaceable  possession  of  his  brick  church. 


126  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 


CHAPTER  XI. 

SLAVERY    IN    THE    CHURCH. 

IN  the  fall  of  1812  our  Tennessee  conference  waa 
held  at  Fountain  Head,  state  of  Tennessee,  on  the 
first  of  November.  At  this  first  session  of  the  Ten- 
nessee conference  the  Illinois  district  was  organized, 
and  J.  Walker  appointed  presiding  elder.  The  Illi- 
nois circuit,  as  a  mission,  was  formed  in  1804,  and 
Benjamin  Young  appointed  to  it.  It  was  attached  to 
the  Cumberland  district,  L.  Garrett  presiding  elder. 
Brother  Young  returned  sixty-seven  members. 

At  this  conference  I  was  appointed  by  Bishop 
Asbury  to  the  Wabash  district,  which  was  then  com- 
posed of  the  following  circuits;  namely,  Vincennes, 
in  the  state  of  Indiana;  and  Little  Wabash  and  Fort 
Massack,  in  Illinois.  These  three  circuits  were  north 
of  the  Ohio  river ;  the  balance  of  the  district  was  in 
Kentucky;  namely,  Livingston,  Christian,  Henderson, 
Hartford,  and  Breckenridge  circuits.  In  traveling 
the  district  I  had  to  cross  the  Ohio  river  sixteen 
times  during  the  year. 

I  told  Bishop  Asbury  that  I  deliberately  believed 
that  I  ought  not  to  be  appointed  presiding  elder,  for 
I  was  not  qualified  for  the  office ;  but  he  told  me  there 
was  no  appeal  from  his  judgment.  At  the  end  of  six 
months  I  wrote  to  him,  begging  a  release  from  the 
post  he  had  assigned  me ;  but  when  he  returned  an 
answer,  he  said  I  must  abide  his  judgment,  and  stand 
in  my  lot  to  the  end  of  the  time.  I  continued  accord- 


PETER    CARTWRIOIIT.  127 

ingly  in  the  service,  but  the  most  of  the  year  was 
gloomy  to  me,  feeling  that  I  had  not  the  first  qualifi- 
cation for  the  office  of  a  presiding  elder.  Perhaps  I 
never  spent  a  more  gloomy  and  sad  year  than  this  in 
all  my  itinerant  life ;  and  from  that  day  to  this  I  can 
safely  say  the  presiding  elder's  office  has  had  no  spe- 
cial charms  for  me;  and  I  will  remark,  that  I  have 
often  wondered  at  the  aspirations  of  many,  very  many 
Methodist  preachers  for  the  office  of  presiding  elder; 
and  have  frequently  said,  if  I  were  a  bishop,  that  such 
aspirants  should  always  go  without  office  under  my 
administration.  I  look  upon  this  disposition  as  the 
outcropping  of  fallen  and  unsanctified  human  nature, 
and  whenever  this  spirit,  in  a  large  degree,  gets  into 
a  preacher,  he  seldom  ever  docs  much  good  after- 
ward. 

We  had  through  the  summer  and  fall  of  this  con- 
ference year  some  splendid  camp  meetings,  many  con- 
versions, and  many  accessions  to  the  Church.  In  the 
fall  we  met  at  conference,  October  1,  1813,  at  Recs's 
Chapel,  Tennessee.  The  name  of  Wabash  district  was 
changed  to  Green  River  district,  and  Vincennes, 
Little  Wabash,  and  Fort  Massack  circuits,  north  of 
the  Ohio  river,  were  stricken  off  and  attached  to  the 
Illinois  district,  and  Dixon  and  Dover  circuits,  south 
of  the  Cumberland  river,  that  had  belonged  to  Nash- 
ville district,  were  attached  to  Green  River  district. 
I  was  appointed  by  Bishop  Asbury  presiding  elder  of 
this  district,  some  time  in  the  course  of  the  summer 
of  this  conference  year,  1813.  We  had  a  camp 
meeting  in  the  Breckenridge  circuit,  and  a  glorious 
good  work  of  religion  was  manifest  throughout  the 
meeting.  It  was  at  this  meeting  that  Benjamin 
Ogderi,  one  of  the  early  preachers  sent  lu  the  west, 
who  became  disaffected,  and  left  the  Me.'hodV  Epis 


128  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

copal  Church  under  the  secession  of  J.  O'Kelly,  and 
backslid,  professed  to  be  reclaimed,  and  returned  to 
his  mother  Church. 

Slavery  had  long  been  agitated  in  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  and  our  preachers,  although  they 
did  not  feel  it  to  be  their  duty  to  meddle  with  it 
politically,  yet,  as  Christians  and  Christian  ministers, 
be  it  spoken  to  their  eternal  credit,  they  believed  it 
to  be  their  duty  to  bear  their  testimony  against  slavery 
as  a  moral  evil,  and  this  is  the  reason  why  the  Gen- 
eral conference,  from  time  to  time,  passed  rules  and 
regulations  to  govern  preachers  and  members  of  the 
Church  in  regard  to  this  great  evil.  The  great  object 
of  the  General  conference  was  to  keep  the  ministry 
clear  of  it,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  course 
pursued  by  early  Methodist  preachers  was  the  cause 
of  the  emancipation  of  thousands  of  this  degraded  race 
of  human  beings;  and  it  is  clear  to  my  mind,  if  Method- 
ist preachers  had  kept  clear  of  slavery  themselves, 
and  gone  on  bearing  honest  testimony  against  it,  that 
thousands  upon  thousands  more  would  have  been 
emancipated  who  are  now  groaning  under  an  oppres- 
sion almost  too  intolerable  to  be  borne.  Slavery  is 
certainly  a  domestic,  political,  and  moral  evil.  Go 
into  a  slave  community,  and  you  not  only  see  the 
dreadful  evils  growing  out  of  the  system  in  the  almost 
universal  licentiousness  which  prevails  among  the 
slaves  themselves,  but  their  young  masters  are  often 
tempted  and  seduced  from  the  paths  of  virtue,  from 
the  associations  in  which  they  are  placed;  and  there 
is  an  undercurrent  of  heart-imbittering  feeling  of 
many  ladies  of  high  and  noble  virtue,  growing  out  of 
the  want  of  fidelity  of  their  husbands,  and  the  profli- 
gate course  of  their  sons.  Let  any  one  travel  through 
'lave  states  and  see  the  thousands  of  mixed  blood,  and 


PETER    CARTWKIGHT.  129 

then  say  if  I  have  misrepresented  the  dreadful  causes 
of  domestic  disquietude  that  often  falls  with  mountain 
weight  on  honorable  wives  and  mothers.  And  although, 
in  the  infancy  of  this  republic,  it  seemed  almost  im- 
possible to  form  a  strong  and  democratic'confederacy, 
and  maintain  their  independence  without  compromis- 
ing constitutionally  this  political  evil,  and  thereby 
fixing  a  stain  on  this  "  land  of  the  free  and  home  of 
the  brave,"  yet  it  was  looked  upon  as  a  great  national 
or  political  evil,  and  by  none  more  so  than  General 
Washington,  the  father  of  the  republic.  I  will  not 
attempt  to  enumerate  the  moral  evils  that  have  been 
produced  by  slavery ;  their  name  is  legion.  And  now, 
notwithstanding  these  are  my  honest  views  of  slavery, 
I  have  never  seen  a  rabid  abolition  or  free-soil  so- 
ciety that  I  could  join,  because  they  resort  to  unjus- 
tifiable agitation,  and  the  means  they  employ  are 
generally  unchristian.  They  condemn  and  confound 
the  innocent  with  the  guilty;  the  means  they  employ 
are  not  truthful,  at  all  times;  and  I  am  perfectly  sat- 
isfied that  if  force  is  resorted  to,  this  glorious  Union 
will  be  dissolved,  a  civil  war  will  follow,  death  and 
carnage  will  ensue,  and  the  only  free  nation  on  the 
earth  will  be  destroyed.  Let  moral  suasion  be  used 
to  the  last  degree  for  the  sake  of  the  salvation  of  the 
slaveholders,  and  the  salvation  of  the  slaves.  Let  us 
not  take  a  course  that  will  cut  off  the  Gospel  from 
them,  and  deliver  them  over  to  the  uncovenanted  mer- 
cies of  God,  or  the  anathemas  of  the  devil.  I  havo 
had  glorious  revivals  of  religion  among  the  slaves,  and 
have  seen  thousands  of  them  soundlf  converted  to 
God,  and  have  stood  by  the  bedside  of  the  dying  slave, 
and  have  heard  the  swelling  shout  of  Christian  victory 
from  the  dying  negro,  as  he  entered  the  cold  wa-^-ers 
of  the  river  of  Jordan. 


130  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

At  our  Brcckenridge  circuit  camp  meeting  the  fol- 
lowing incident  occurred.  There  were  a  brother  S. 
and  family,  who  were  the  owners  of  a  good  many 
slaves.  It  was  a  fine  family,  and  sister  S.  was  a  very 
intelligent  lady,  and  an  exemplary  Christian.  She 
had  long  sought  the  blessing  of  perfect  love,  but  she 
said  the  idea  of  holding  her  fellow-beings  in  bond- 
age stood  out  in  her  way.  Many  at  this  meeting 
sought  and  obtained  the  blessing  of  sanctification ; 
sister  S.  said  her  whole  soul  was  in  an  agony  for 
that  blessing,  and  it  seemed  to  her  at  times  that  she 
could  almost  lay  hold,  and  claim  the  promise,  but  she 
said  her  slaves  would  seem  to  step  right  in  between 
her  and  her  Savior,  and  prevent  its  reception ;  but 
while  on  her  knees,  and  struggling  as  in  an  agony  for 
a  clean  heart,  she  then  and  there  covenanted  with  the 
Lord,  if  he  would  give  her  the  blessing,  she  would  give 
up  her  slaves  and  set  them  free.  She  said  this  cove- 
nant had  hardly  been  made  one  moment,  when  God 
filled  her  soul  with  such  an  overwhelming  sense  of 
Divine  love,  that  she  did  not  really  know  whether  she 
was  in  or  out  of  the  body.  She  rose  from  her  knees, 
and  proclaimed  to  listening  hundreds  that  she  had  ob- 
tained the  blessing,  and  also  the  terms  on  which  she 
had  obtained  it.  She  went  through  the  vast  crowd 
with  holy  shouts  of  joy,  and  exhorting  all  to  taste  and 
see  that  the  Lord  was  gracious,  and  such  a  power  at- 
tended her  words  that  hundreds  fell  to  the  ground, 
and  scores  of  s^  uls  were  happily  born  into  the  king- 
dom of  God  that  afternoon  and  during  the  night. 
Shortly  after  this  they  set  their  slaves  free,  and  the 
end  of  that  family  was  peace. 

There  was  another  circumstance  happened  at  this 
camp  meeting  that  I  will  substantially  relate.  It  was 
one  of  our  vales  of  the  camp  meeting  that  the  men 


PETER    CARTWRIOnr.  131 

were  to  occupy  the  scats  on  one  side  of  the  stand, 
and  tne  ladies  on  the  other  side,  at  all  hours  of  public 
worship.  But  there  was  a  young  man,  finely  dressed, 
with  his  bosom  full  of  ruffles,  that  would  take  his  seat 
among  the  ladies;  and  if  there  was  any  excitement 
in  the  congregation,  he  would  rise  to  his  feet,  and 
stand  on  the  seats  prepared  for  the  occupancy  of  the 
ladies.  I  reproved  him  several  times;  but  he  would 
still  persist  in  his  disorderly  course.  At  length  I  re- 
proved him  personally  and  sharply,  and  said,  "  I  mean 
that  young  man  there,  standing  on  the  seats  of  the 
ladies,  with  a  ruffled  shirt  on."  And  added,  "I  doubt 
not  that  ruffled  shirt  was  borrowed." 

This  brought  him  off  the  seats  in  a  mighty  rage. 
He  swore  he  would  whip  me  for  insulting  him.  After 
a  while  I  was  walking  round  on  the  outskirts  of  the 
congregation ;  and  he  had  a  large  company  gathered 
round  him,  and  was  swearing  at  a  mighty  rate,  and 
saying  he  would  certainly  whip  me  before  he  left  the 
ground. 

I  walked  up,  and  said,  "  Gentlemen,  let  me  in  here 
to  this  fellow." 

They  opened  the  way.  I  walked  up  to  him,  and 
asked  him  if  it  was  me  he  was  cursing,  and  going 
to  whip. 

He  said  it  was. 

"Well,"  said  I,  "we  will  not  disturb  the  congre- 
gation fighting  here;  but  let  us  go  out  into  the  woods, 
for  if  I  am  to  be  whipped,  I  want  it  over,  for  I  do 
not  like  to  live  in  dread." 

So  we  started  for  the  woods,  the  crowd  pressing 
after  us.  I  stopped  and  requested  every  one  of  them 
to  go  back,  and  not  a  man  to  follow ;  and  assured 
them  if  they  did  not  go  back,  that  I  would  not  go 
another  step;  they  then  turned  back.  The  camp 


132  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

ground  was  fenced  in.  When  we  came  to  the  fence 
I  put  my  left  hand  on  the  top  rail  and  leaped  over. 
As  I  lighted  on  the  other  side  one  of  my  feet  struck  a 
grub,  and  I  had  well-nigh  sprained  my  ankle;  it 
gave  me  a  severe  jar ;  and  a  pain  struck  me  in  the 
left  side  from  the  force  of  the  jar,  and  involuntarily 
I  put  my  right  hand  on  my  left  side,  where  the  pain 
had  struck  me.  My  redoubtable  antagonist  had  got 
on  the  fence,  and  looking  down  at  me,  said, 

"  D — n  you,  you  are  feeling  for  a  dirk,  are  you  ?" 

As  quick  as  thought,  it  occurred  to  me  how  to  get 
clear  of  a  whipping. 

"  Yes,"  said  I ;  "  and  I  will  give  you  the  benefit  of 
all  the  dirks  I  have;"  and  advanced  rapidly  toward 
him. 

lie  sprang  back  on  the  other  side  of  the  fence 
from  me.  I  jumped  over  after  him,  and  a  regular 
foot  race  followed.  I  was  so  diverted  at  my  cowardly 
bully's  rapid  retreat  that  I  could  not  run  fast;  so  he 
escaped,  and  I  missed  my  whipping. 

There  was  a  large  pond  not  very  far  from  the  camp- 
ground, and  what  few  rowdies  were  there,  concluded 
they  would  take  my  bully  and  duck  him  in  that  pond 
as  a  punishment  for  his  bad  conduct;  so  they  decoy- 
ed him  off  there,  and  they  got  a  long  pole,  and 
stripped  some  hickory  bark,  and  securing  him  on 
the  pole,  two  of  them,  one  at  each  end,  waded  in 
and  ducked  him  nearly  to  death;  he  begged  and 
prayed  them  to  spare  his  life;  he  promised  them  that 
he  would  never  misbehave  at  meeting  again,  and 
that  he  would  immediately  leave  the  ground  if  they 
would  let  him  go.  On  these  conditions  they  released 
him,  and  I  got  clear  of  my  ruffle-shirted  dandy. 

It  may  be  asked  what  I  would  have  done  if  this 
fellow  had  gone  with  me  to  the  woods.  This  i.s  hard 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  138 

to  answer,  for  it  was  a  part  of  my  creed  to  love  every 
body,  but  to  fear  no  one ;  and  I  did  not  permit  myself 
to  believe  any  man  could  whip  me  till  it  was  tried ; 
and  I  did  not  permit  myself  to  premeditate  expe- 
dients in  such  cases.  I  should  no  doubt  have  pro- 
posed to  him  to  have  prayer  first,  and  then  followed 
the  openings  of  Providence. 

This  year  there  was  a  considerable  decrease  in 
membership  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
owing  chiefly  to  the  war  with  England;  and  we  felt 
the  sad  effects  of  war  throughout  the  west,  perhaps  as 
sensibly  as  in  any  part  of  the  Union.  A  braver  set 
of  men  never  lived  than  was  found  in  this  western 
world,  and  many  of  them  volunteered  and  helped  to 
achieve  another  glorious  victory  over  the  legions  of 
England,  and  her  savage  allied  thousands.  Of  course 
there  were  many  of  our  members  went  into  the  war, 
and  deemed  it  their  duty  to  defend  our  common  coun 
try  under  General  Jackson. 

In  the  fall  of  1813,  October  1st,  our  conference 
was  held  at  Rees's  Chapel,  Tennessee,  and  for  1813-14 
our  appointments  remained  pretty  much  as  they  were 
before.  I  was  returned  to  the  Green  River  district; 
this  year  the  Missouri  district  was  formed,  and  ad- 
mitted as  part  of  the  Tennessee  conference.  In  the 
course  of  this  year,  or  about  this  tune,  there  were 
new  fields  of  labor  entered  by  our  preachers  along 
the  Cumberland  river,  near  the  line  between  Ten- 
nessee and  Kentucky.  We  preached  in  new  settle- 
ments, and  the  Lord  poured  out  his  Spirit,  and  ws 
had  many  convictions  and  many  conversions.  It 
was  the  order  of  the  day,  though  I  am  sorry  to  say  it, 
that  we  were  constantly  followed  by  a  certain  set  of 
proselyting  Baptist  preachers.  These  new  and  wicked 
»ettlement3  were  seldom  visited  by  these  Baptist 


134  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

preachers  till  the  Methodist  preachers  entered  them, 
then,  when  a  revival  was  gotten  up,  or  the  work 
of  God  revived,  these  Baptist  preachers  came  rush- 
ing in,  and  they  generally  sung  their  sermons ;  and 
when  they  struck  the  long  roll,  or  their  sing-song 
mode  of  preaching,  in  substance  it  was  "water!" 
"water!"  "you  must  follow  your  blessed  Lord  down 
into  the  water!"  I  had  preached  several  times  in  a 
large,  populous,  and  wicked  settlement,  and  there 
were  serious  attention,  deep  convictions,  and  a  good 
many  conversions;  but,  between  my  occasional  ap- 
pointments, these  preachers  would  rush  in,  and  try  to 
take  our  converts  off  into  the  water ;  and,  indeed, 
they  made  so  much  ado  about  baptism  by  immersion, 
that  the  uninformed  would  suppose  that  heaven  was 
an  island,  and  there  was  no  way  to  get  there  but  by 
diving  or  swimming. 

Among  the  Baptist  preachers  that  rushed  in  on  us 
in  this  new  settlement,  there  came  along  a  lank,  long- 
legged,  and  extremely-illiterate  and  ignorant  old 
preacher  by  the  name  of  H s,  and  he  was  as  im- 
pudent as  a  wolf.  He  sent  an  appointment,  and  he 
was  to  blow  the  Metbodists  sky-high.  I  had  never 
seen  him,  nor  had  he  ever  seen  me.  I  heard  of  his 
appointment,  and  concluded  that  I  would  go  ;  and  if 
he  really  killed  all  the  Methodists,  if  I  could  muster 
force  enough,  I  would  bury  them  out  of  the  way. 
The  time  came  on,  and  this  mighty  Goliah  appeared, 
with  two  armor-bearers.  I  staid  out  till  he  com- 
menced the  battle,  then  I  moved  into  the  congrega- 
tion, and  took  my  seat,  with  pen,  ink,  and  paper, 
thinking  if  I  was  to  be  killed,  and  he  did  not  dispatch 
me  too  suddenly,  I  would  at  least  try  to  write  my 
will.  He  commenced  the  battle  by  warning  the  peo- 
ple to  take  care  of  these  Methodist  preachers  that 


PETE?    CARTWRI9HT.  1S5 

wore  black  broadcloth  coats,  silk  jackets,  and  fair- 
topped  boots,  and  a  wsUch  in  their  pockets;  that 
rode  fine  fat  horses,  etc.  He  then  said  he  would  tell 
them  how  these  Methodist  preachers  got  the  money 
to  buy  all  these  fine  clothes  and  horses.  He  said, 
that  in  order  to-  join  the  Methodist  Church,  the 
preachers  received  twenty-five  cents  for  every  one 
that  they  took  into  the  Church,  and  twenty-five  cents 
for  every  baby  they  sprinkled,  and  that  these  babies 
were  considered  members  of  the  Church,  and  thus 
that  every  member,  adult  or  infant,  had  to  pay  u 
dollar  a  head  annually ;  and  that  these  moneys  con- 
stituted a  large  fund,  and  the  Methodist  preachers 
could  well  afford  to  dress  fine  and  ride  fat  horses. 

But,  said  he,  here  is  poor  old  H s — alluding  to 

himself— if  he  can  get  a  wool  hat  and  a  wallet  of 
dumplings  he  is  content,  and  thinks  himself  well  off. 
Now,  said  he,  my  dear  brethren,  these  Methodist 
preachers  often  remind  me,  in  the  doctrine  they 
preach,  of  the  manner  of  certain  men  that  catch 
monkeys  in  certain  countries.  The  monkeys  are  very 
fond  of  black  haws ;  the  monkey-catchers  go  and  scat- 
ter these  black  haws  around  the  roots  of  the  trees  in 
which  the  monkeys  are,  and  then  they  retire,  the 
monkeys  come  down  and  devour  the  haws.  The 
next  time  these  monkey-catchers  come  they  bring 
sheep-saffron,  that  very  much  resembles  black  haws. 
They  scatter  the  sheep-saffron  around  the  roots  of  the 
trees  and  retire,  and  the  poor,  simple  monkeys  eat  up 
the  saffron,  and  it  makes  them  so  sick  they  can  not 
climb,  but  lie  down,  and  then  these  men  rush  out 
and  catch  them.  So  it  is,  said  he,  my  brethren,  with 
these  Methodist  preachers.  They  preach  some  truth, 
which  takes  *ith  the  people;  then  they  come  with 
".heir  sheep-saffron,  or  rotten  doctrine,  and  the  poor, 


136  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

simple  people,  like  the  foolish  monkeys,  swallow  down 
these  false  doctrines,  and  it  makes  them  sick,  and 
then  these  Methodist  preachers  catch  them.  He  then 
compared  Methodist  preachers  to  a  boy  climbing  a 
pole,  etc.  You  may  be  sure  this  was  a  deadly  shot 

As  soon  as  he  was  done,  to  keep  up  appearances, 
he  said,  if  there  was  any  one  present  that  wanted  to 
reply  to  him,  let  him  come  forward.  I  arose,  and 
marched  up,  and  took  the  stand,  and  in  a  very  little 
time  nailed  all  his  lies  to  the  counter ;  and  by  re- 
spectable gentlemen  out  of  any  Church  proved  his 
statements  to  be  false,  and  poured  round  upon  round 
on  him  so  hot  and  so  fast,  that  he  started  for  the 
door.  I  ordered  him  to  stop,  and  told  him,  if  he  did 
not,  I  would  shoot  him  in  the  back  for  a  tory ;  he 
got  out  at  the  door.  He  was  taken  so  at  surprise, 
and  charged  on  so  suddenly,  that  he  forgot  his  hat, 
and  he  peeped  round  the  door-chink  at  me.  I  blazed 
away  at  him  till  he  dodged  back,  and  started  off, 
bareheaded,  for  home,  talking  to  himself  by  the  way. 
As  he  retreated  in  this  situation  he  was  met  by  a  gen- 
tleman, who  hailed  him,  and  said,  "  Mr.  II s, 

what  is  the  matter?  where  is  your  hat?"  "0  Lord!" 
he  exclaimed,  "  that  Methodist  bull-dog,  Cartwright, 
came  to  my  meeting,  and  opened  a  fire  on  me  that 
no  mortal  man  could  stand,  and  I  left."  "  Come,"  said 
the  gentleman,  "go  back  and  get  your  hat."  "No," 
said  he,  "  I  will  not  go  back,  if  I  never  see  anothei 
hat  on  earth."  This  encounter  blowed  this  proselyt- 
ing, sheep-stealing  preacher  to  never,  where  anothei 
Baptist  preacher  that  I  once  heard  of  would  have 
gone  to,  if  he  had  jumped  off. 

Now  I  must  explain  this  allusion  a  little.  At  an  early 
day  I  heard  a  Baptist  preacher  preach,  and  toward  the 
close  he  alluded  to  his  own  experience.  When  in  a 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  13? 

state  of  conviction,  he  said  he  was  in  great  distress ; 
he  sought  relief  on  the  right  and  left,  but  found  none, 
and  at  length  he  said  he  thought  he  would  start  off  and 
travel  to  the  ends  of  the  yearth,  and  when  he  got  there 
that  he  would  jump  off;  and  now  stopping  suddenly, 
he  asked  his  congregation,  "Where  do  you  think  I 
would  have  gone  to?"  and  answering  for  them,  said  he, 
"I  should  have  gone  to  NEVER." 

While  I  am  giving  a  few  strictures  on  the  unworthy 
conduct  of  a  few  of  the  preachers  of  this  denomina 
tion,  I  will  state  another  incident  that  occurred  about 
this  time.  I  settled  on  a  little  new  place,  near  the 
road  leading  from  Ilopkinsville,  Christian  county,  to 
Russellville,  Logan  county,  Kentucky,  and  was  desti- 
tute of  stabling.  Presently  there  rode  up  an  old 
gentleman  and  a  youth  he  called  his  son. 

He  asked  me  if  Peter  Cartwright,  a  Methodist 
preacher,  lived  there. 

I  answered  he  did. 

He  asked,  "Are  you  the  man?" 

I  answered,  "Yes." 

"  Well,"  said  he,  "  I  am  a  Baptist  preacher,  have 
been  to  Missouri  after  this  my  sick  son,  and  I  have 
called  to  stay  all  night  with  you."  I  told  him  to  do 
so,  and  alight  and  come  in.  I  disposed  of  their  horses 
as  best  I  could,  supper  was  prepared,  and  they  partook 
of  our  fare.  After  supper  they  both  stepped  into  the 
other  room,  and  when  they  returned  I  smelled  whisky 
very  strongly ;  and  although  these  were  not  the  days 
3f  general  temperance  as  now  going  on,  yet  I  thought 
it  a  bad  sign  for  a  preacher  to  smell  very  strong  of 
whisky,  but  said  nothing.  When  we  were  about  to 
retire  to  bed,  I  set  out  the  books  and  said,  "Brother, 
it  is  our  custom  to  have  family  prayer;  take  the 
books  and  lead  in  family  prayer."  He  began  to  make 


138  A  u  T  o  n  i  o  a  R  A  p  «  v  .0  p 

excuses  and  declined.  I  urged  him  strongly,  but  he 
refused,  so  I  took  the  books,  read,  sung,  and  prayed ; 
but  he  would  not  sing  with  me,  neither  did  he,  nor  his 
son,  kneel  when  we  prayed.  Next  morning  the  family 
was  called  together  for  family  prayer ;  again  I  invited 
him  to  pray  with  us,  but  he  would  not.  As  soon  as 
prayer  was  over  he  went  into  the  other  room,  and 
Drought  out  his  bottle  of  whisky;  he  asked  me  to 
take  a  dram.  I  told  him  I  did  not  drink  spirits.  He 
offered  it  to  all  my  family,  but  they  all  refused.  After 
breakfast  he  and  his  son  harnessed  up  their  horses  to 
start  on  their  way  home. 

"Perhaps,  brother,"  said  he,  "you  charge?" 

"  Yes,"  said  I,  "  all  whisky-drinking  preachers,  that 
will  not  pray  with  me,  I  charge." 

"Well,"  said  he,  "it  looks  a  little  hard  that  one 
preacher  should  charge  another." 

"Sir,"  said  I,  "you  have  given  me  no  evidence 
that  you  are  a  preacher,  and  I  fear  you  are  a  vile  im- 
postor; and  when  any  man  about  me  drinks  whisky, 
and  will  not  pray  with  me,  preacher  or  no  preacher, 
I  take  a  pleasure  in  charging  him  full  price;  so  haul 
out  your  cash."  He  did  so,  but  very  reluctantly. 

I  am  glad  these  unworthy  examples  of  these  preach- 
ers do  not  apply  to  the  Baptist  ministry  generally, 
but  many  of  them  are  friends  of  temperance,  and 
scorn  the  contemptible  business  of  proselyting  mem- 
bers from  other  Churches.  So  may  they  continue,  ant* 
give  up  their  exclusive  bapt'sm  by  immersion ! 


PETER   CARTWRIGHT.  139 


CHAPTER  XIL 

CAMP    MEETING   INCIDENTS. 

ON  the  29th  September,  1 814,  our  Tennessee  confer- 
ence commenced  its  session  at  Kenerley's  Chapel,  nine 
miles  north  of  Russell ville,  Logan  county,  Kentucky. 
Bishops  Asbury  and  M'Kendree  were  both  present. 
These  two  venerable  bishops  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  were  both  single  men,  and  lived  and 
died  without  ever  marrying.  There  is  no  doubt  but  the 
scanty  means  of  a  support,  and  the  vast  field  of  their 
pastoral  labor,  induced  them  to  remain  unmarried,  and 
devote  their  whole  time  to  the  building  up  the  Church. 
Their  field  of  ministerial  labor  was  from  east  to  west, 
from  north  to  south,  all  over  these  United  States 
and  territories,  and  the  British  provinces  in  Canada. 
The  Union  itself  was  in  its  infancy.  When  these  men 
bestowed  the  most  of  their  ministerial  labor,  we  had 
just  thrown  off  the  yoke  of  the  British  Government, 
ju?t  ended  a  bloody  war;  great  scarcity  of  money 
prevailed;  the  Methodist  Churches  were  few,  feeble, 
and  poor ;  a  single  man  in  that  early  day  was  only 
allowed  sixty-four,  eighty,  and  never  more  than  one 
hundred  dollars,  and  the  bishops  no  more  than  any 
other  single  traveling  preacher,  and  always  dependent 
on  the  voluntary  contributions  of  the  people  for  this 
email  pittance.  Many  of  our  married  preachers  had 
been  starved  into  a  location,  and  many  more,  during 
their  illustrious  sacrificing  lives,  were  actually  com 
polled  to  desist  from  traveling  for  want  of  means  of 


140  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

support  for  their  families.  From  the  poverty  of  th« 
Church,  and  the  vastness  of  the  field  of  their  itinerant 
life,  Mr.  Asbury,  and  Bishop  M'Kendree  too,  advised 
the  traveling  preachers  to  remain  single;  but  a  few 
years  proved  to  these  devoted  bishops  themselves 
that  Methodist  preachers  were  b*ut  men,  subject  to 
like  passions  with  other  men.  The  various  courtships 
and  marriage  contracts,  to  be  consummated  at  some 
future  and  distant  day,  satisfied  these  devoted  men 
of  God  that  it  was  better  for  even  Methodist  preachers 
to  marry  than  to  remain  single,  after  they  had  formed 
a  ministerial  character;  and  although  I  had  traveled 
ten  years,  had  a  wife  and  two  children,  and  had  acted 
as  steward  of  the  conference  for  several  years,  yet 
up  to  this  time,  as  I  have  elsewhere  stated  in  this 
narrative,  no  allowance  had  been  made  for  me,  or 
any  other  traveling  married  preacher,  for  house  rent 
and  table  expenses,  or  for  our  children. 

At  this  conference  Bishop  Asbury  came  with  ten 
dollars  for  every  traveling  preacher's  child  or  children 
born  in  the  traveling  connection.  This  money  he  had 
begged  from  door  to  door  down  east,  in  the  older  and 
wealthier  conferences,  for  the  suffering  children  of 
the  married  traveling  itinerants  in  the  west.  This, 
indeed,  was  a  fatted  calf  to  many  of  us,  who  had  re- 
ceived hardly  enough  to  keep  soul  and  body  together. 
At  this  conference  the  stewards  were  instructed  to 
settle  all  the  claims  of  the  preachers  and  their  fami- 
lies, as  the  Discipline  provides. 

By  an  examination  of  the  Minutes  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  Ohio  conference  still  had  its  six  presiding- 
elder  districts,  and  Tennessee  eight  districts — for 
1814-15.  For  several  years,  about  this  time,  our 
increase  of  members  was  small,  owing  to  the  war  and 
rumors  of  war.  The  traveling  preachers  in  the  Ohio 


PBTEK    CARTWRIGHT.  141 

conference  had  increased  to  sixty-three,  and  in  the 
Tennessee  conference  to  sixty-six. 

At  a  camp  meeting  held  this  year,  in  the  edge 
of  Tennessee,  for  the  Christian  circuit,  there  were  a 
great  many  people  attended,  and  among  them  a  gang 
of  rowdies.  The  ringleaders  of  the  rowdies  went  by 
the  names  of  J.  P.  and  William  P.,  two  brothers ;  their 
parents  were  fine  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  1  found  it  would  be  hard  to  keep  order,  and 
I  went  to  J.  P.,  and  told  him  I  wanted  him  to  help  me 
keep  order.  Said  I,  "These  rowdies  are  all  afraid 
of  you;  and  if  you  will  help  me  you  shall  be  captain, 
and  choose  your  own  men." 

He  said  he  did  not  want  to  engage  in  that  way, 
but  if  I  would  not  bind  him  up  too  close,  but  let  him 
have  a  little  fun.  away  off,  he  would  then  promise  me 
that  we  should  have  good  order  in  the  encampment 
through  the  meeting. 

I  said,  "  Very  well ;  keep  good  order  in  the  con- 
gregation, and  if  you  have  any  little  fun,  let  it  be 
away  off,  where  it  will  not  disturb  the  worship  of 
God." 

There  came  into  the  congregation  a  young,  awk- 
ward fellow,  that  would  trespass  on  our  rules  by  seat- 
ing himself  all  the  time  among  the  ladies.  It  was 
very  fashionable  at  that  time  for  the  gentlemen  to 
roach  their  hair;  and  this  young  man  had  a  mighty 
bushy  roach ed  head  of  hair.  I  took  him  out  several 
times  from  among  the  women,  but  he  would  soon  be 
back  again. 

I  told  J.  P.  I  wished  he  would  attend  to  this  young 
man.  "Very  well,"  said  he;  and  immediately  sent 
off  and  got  a  pair  of  scissors,  and  planted  his  company 
%bout  a  half  mile  off;  then  sent  for  this  young  fellow, 
under  the  pretense  of  giving  him  something  to  drink. 


142  AUTOBIOailAPIIY   OP 

When  they  got  him  out  there,  two  of  them,  one  on 
each  side,  stepped  up  to  him  with  drawn  dirks,  and 
told  him  they  did  not  mean  to  hurt  him  if  he  would 
be  quiet;  but  if  he  resisted  or  hallooed,  he  was  a 
dead  man.  They  said  they  only  wanted  to  roach  his 
hair,  and  put  him  in  the  newest  Nashville  fashion. 
The  felloAV  was  scared  almost  to  death,  but  made  no 
resistance  whatever.  Then  one  with  the  scissors  com- 
menced cutting  his  hair,  and  it  was  haggled  all  over 
at  a  masterly  rate.  When  they  were  done  shearing 
him,  they  let  him  go;  and  he  came  straight  to  the 
camp-ground.  Just  as  he  entered  it  I  met  him  ;  he 
was  pale  as  a  cloth.  He  took  off  his  hat  and  said, 
"  See  here,  Mr.  Cartwright,  what  them  rowdies  have 
done !"  I  had  very  hard  work  to  keep  down  my  risibil- 
ities ;  but  I  told  him  he  had  better  say  nothing  about 
it,  for  if  he  did  they  might  serve  him  worse.  lie  soon 
disappeared,  and  interrupted  us  no  more  during  the 
meeting. 

Our  camp-ground  was  right  on  the  bank  of  a  creek. 
Just  behind  the  preachers'  camp  there  was  about 
room  enough  to  place  two  or  three  carriages;  then 
the  bank  of  the  creek,  which  was  about  ten  feet  high. 
Not  far  from  the  shore  was  a  deep  hole  of  water, 
about  six  feet  deep.  William  P.,  the  brother  of  my 
captain  of  order,  was  very  rude,  and  I  reproved 
him  sharply.  I  understood  that  he  swore  he  would 
run  my  carriage — which  I  had  placed  behind  the 
preachers'  tent,  right  on  the  bank — into  the  creek. 
There  was  but  one  way  to  pass  to  my  carriage.  At 
night  1  lay  watching  with  a  good  stick  in  my  hand, 
and  presently  I  saw  William  take  hold  of  my  carriage 
and  begin  to  turn  it,  in  order  to  run  it  down  the  bank 
into  the  creek.  I  slipped  out,  arid  rushed  upon  him 
with  my  cudgel.  I  was  in  the  only  pathway;  and 


PETER    GARTH-RIGHT.  143 

he,  fearing  a  good  knock-down,  leaped  over  the  bank 
rigM  into  the  deep  hole  of  water,  and  came  out  on 
the  other  side,  and  ran  off. 

It  made  him  very  angry  that  he  was  defeated.  He 
swore  that  he  would  have  satisfaction  out  of  me  before 
the  meeting  was  over.  In  the  mean  time,  the  power 
of  God  fell  on  the  people  gloriously ;  many  hardened 
sinners  were  arrested,  and  a  great  many  were  con- 
verted; and  on  Sunday  the  mighty  power  of  God 
was  felt  to  the  utmost  verge  of  the  congregation.  Oc 
Sunday  night  our  altar  was  crowded  with  weeping 
penitents.  While  I  was  in  the  altar,  laboring  with 
the  mourners,  I  saw  William  come,  up  and  lean  on 
the  pale,  on  the  outside  of  the  altar.  I  kept  my  eye 
on  him ;  arid  suddenly  he  leaped  over  into  the  altar, 
and  fell  at  full  length,  and  roared  like  a  bull  in  a  net, 
and  cried  aloud  for  mercy.  While  I  was  talking  to 
and  praying  for  him  and  others,  I  trod  on  something 
near  where  he  had  been  standing  that  felt  soft.  I 
stooped  down  and  looked,  and  lo  and  behold,  what 
should  it  be  but  a  string  of  frogs,  strung  on  a  piece  of 
hickory  bark  !  I  took  them  up,  and  carried  them  into 
the  tent,  not  knowing  what  it  meant. 

Just  about  daybreak,  Monday  morning,  William 
P.  raised  the  shout  of  victory,  after  struggling  hard 
all  night.  Our  meeting  went  on  gloriously  all  that 
day,  and  for  several  days  and  nights,  with  very  lit- 
tle preaching  or  intermission;  and  many  were  the 
happy  subjects  of  converting  grace.  Some  time  on 
Monday,  my  notorious  William  came  to  me,  and  told 
me  that  he  gathered  and  ntrung  that  batch  of  frogs, 
and  brought  them  to  the  altai,  intending,  while  I  was 
stooping  and  praying  for  the  mourners,  to  slip  them 
over  my  head  and  round  my  neck ;  and  while  he  was 
seeking  an  opportunity  to  do  this,  the  mighty  power 


144  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

of  God  fell  on  him.  lie  said  he  never  wanted  to  be 
any  nearer  hell  than  he  felt  himself  to  be  when  the 
power  of  God  arrested  him.  Many  of  the  very 
worst  rowdies  that  attended  this  meeting  were  struck 
down  and  converted  to  God;  and  thus  ended  the 
Frog  Campaign.  About  seventy  joined  the  Church. 
There  was  another  incident  which  occurred  at 
this  meeting  that  I  will  relate.  Not  very  distant  from 
Ilopkinsville,  near  which  town  I  lived,  there  was  a 
very  interesting,  fashionable,  wealthy  family,  who 
were  raised  with  all  the  diabolical  hatred  that  a 
rigidly-enforced  predestinarian  education  could  im- 
part against  the  Methodists.  It  had  pleased  God,  at  a 
camp  meeting  near  them,  that  I  superintended,  to 
arrest  the  wife  and  two  of  the  daughters  of  the  gen- 
tleman who  was  the  head  of  this  family,  and  they 
were  powerfully  converted,  and  joined  the  Methodist 
Church,  and,  as  is  common,  they  felt  greatly  attached 
to  me  as  the  instrument,  in  the  hands  of  God,  of  their 
salvation.  This  enraged  the  husband  and  father  of 
these  interesting  females  very  much.  lie  not  only 
threatened  to  whip  me,  but  to  kill  me.  He  said  I  must 
be  a  very  bad  man,  for  all  the  women  in  the  country 
were  falling  in  love  with  me;  and  that  I  moved  on 
their  passions  and  took  them  into  the  Church  with 
bad  intentions.  His  eldest  daughter,  a  fine,  beautiful, 
intelligent  young  lady,  wanted  to  attend  the  above-men- 
tioned camp  meeting,  and  bespoke  a  seat  in  my  car- 
riage, in  company  with  others  going  to  the  same  meet- 
ing. At  first  her  father  swore  she  should  not  go ;  but  on 
second  thought  he  consented,  but  told  his  wife  and 
daughter  that  he  would  go  along,  and  thot  he  would 
watch  me  closely,  and  that  he  had  no  doubt,  before 
he  would  return,  he  would  catch  me  at  my  devilment, 
and  be  able  to  show  the  world  that  I  was  a  bad  man, 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  145 

*nd  put  a  stop  to  the  women  all  running  mad  after 
this  bad  preacher.  His  daughter  made  ready,  and 
we  all  started.  We  had  about  twenty-eight  miles  to 
go  to  reach  the  encampment.  His  daughter  thought 
it  her  duty  to  tell  me  the  designs  of  her  father,  and 
said  she  hoped  I  would  be  on  my  guard,  for  she  verily 
thought  that  her  father  was  so  enraged  that  if  he 
could  not  get  something  to  lay  to  my  charge  to  ruin 
my  character  as  a  preacher,  that  he  would  kill  me 
from  pure  malice.  I  told  her,  of  course,  I  was  wide 
awake,  and  duly  sober,  and  I  had  not  the  least  fear 
but  what  God  would  give  me  her  father  as  a  rescued 
captive  from  the  devil  before  the  camp  meeting 
closed.  Said  I,  "  You  must  pray  hard,  and  the  work 
will  be  done."  I  said  to  her, "  It  is  not  the  old  big  devil 
that  is  in  your  father;  it  must  be  a  little  weakly,  sick- 
ly devil  that  has  taken  possession  of  him,  and  I  do  no* 
think  that  it  will  be  a  hard  job  to  cast  him  out.  Now," 
said  I,  "  if  God  takes  hold  of  your  father  and  shakes  him 
over  hell  a  little  while,  and  he  smells  brimstone  right 
strong,  if  there  was  a  ship  load  of  these  little  sickly  dev- 
ils in  him,  they  would  be  driven  out  just  as  easy  as  a 
tornado  would  drive  the  regiments  of  musketoes  from 
around  and  about  those  stagnant  ponds  in  the  coun 
try.  Cheer  up,  sister ;  I  believe  God  will  give  me  your 
father  before  we  return."  Seeing  me  so  bold  and  con- 
fident she  wept,  and  raised  the  shout  in  anticipation  of 
so  desirable  an  event.  When  we  got  to  the  camp- 
ground I  had  the  company  and  their  horses  all  taken 
care  of,  and  then  said  to  this  man:  "We  have  a  largo 
preachers'  tent,  well  provided  with  good  beds ;  come, 
you  must  go  with  me  and  lodge  in  the  preachers'  tent." 
Tie  see:ned  taken  by  surprise,  and  hesitated,  but  I 
took  him  right  into  the  tent.  "  Now,  sir,"  said  I, "  iriake 
yourself  at  home,  for  I  hope  to  see  you  soundly  "ou- 
10 


146  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

verted  before  this  camp  meeting  comes  to  a  close."  1 
saw  his  countenance  fall,  and  perhaps  this  was  the 
starting-point  of  his  deep  and  pungent  convictions. 
The  trumpet  sounded  for  preaching;  I  mounted  th« 
stand  and  preached;  this  man  came  and  heard  me. 
1  saw  clearly  from  his  looks,  that  he  was  convicted, 
and  had  a  hard  struggle  in  his  mind.  He  said  to  me. 
after  the  meeting  was  over,  that  my  taking  him  into  the 
preachers'  tent  and  treating  him  so  kindly,  was  the 
worst  whipping  he  ever  got;  he  could  not  sleep,  he 
said.  Sometimes  he  thought  he  was  a  poor  mean 
devil  to  treat  me  as  he  had  done;  and  surely  I  must 
be  a  Christian,  or  I  never  could  treat  him  s(  kindly 
after  he  had  said  so  many  hard  and  bitter  things  about 
me.  As  the  meeting  progressed  his  convictions  in- 
creased till  he  could  neither  eat  nor  sleep. 

On  Sunday  night,  when  such  a  tremendous  power 
fell  on  the  congregation,  and  my  gang  of  rowdies 
fell  by  dozens  on  the  right  and  left,  my  special  per- 
secutor fell  suddenly,  as  if  a  rifle  ball  had  been  shot 
through  his  heart.  He  lay  powerless,  and  seemed 
cramped  all  over,  till  next  morning;  and  about  sun- 
rise began  to  come  to.  With  a  smile  on  his  coun- 
tenance, he  then  sprang  up,  and  bounded  all  over  the 
camp-ground,  with  swelling  shouts  of  glory  and 
victory,  that  almost  seemed  to  shake  the  encamp- 
ment. This  was  a  glorious  time  for  his  daughter;  she 
came  leaping  and  skipping  to  me,  and  shouted  out 
that  those  little  mean  and  sickly  devils  were  cast 
out  of  her  father.  lie  joined  the  Church,  went  home, 
and  for  days  the  family  did  little  else  but  sing,  pray, 
and  shout  the  high  praises  of  God. 
'  From  this  family  a  blessed  revival  broke  out  and 
spread  all  round,  and  many  were  awakened  and  con- 
verted to  God.  0,  how  often  the  devil  overshoots 


PETER    CARTWRIGBT.  147 

the  mark  by  inducing  his  subjects  to  persecute 
preachers  and  the  Church.  God  is  above  the  devil, 
and  the  devil  can  never  be  cast  out  till  he  is  first 
raised,  or  waked  up. 

Although  I  have  never  laid  much  stress  on  dreams, 
yet  on  Monday  night  of  this  camp  meeting  I  had  a 
dream  that  made  some  impression  on  my  mind.  I 
here  relate  it  and  what  followed,  and  let  it  go  for 
what  it  is  worth;  for  "what  is  the  chaff  to  the 
wheat  ?"  In  my  night  visions  I  thought  I  went  on  a 
fishing  expedition.  I  thought  the  fish  bit  well,  and 
I  drew  up  and  threw  out  many  excellent,  fine  fish, 
At  length  I  felt  that  a  large  fish,  or  something  else, 
had  got  hold  of  my  hook.  I  began  to  draw  what- 
ever it  was  out,  but  it  came  slow  and  pulled  heavy. 
At  length  I  drew  it  to  land,  when  behold,  it  was  a 
large  mud  turtle.  I  awoke,  and  lo  it  was  a  dream ; 
and  I  was  glad  of  it. 

There  had  been  in  attendance  on  our  camp  meet- 
ing an  old  apostate  Baptist  preacher,  who  had  left 
his  wife,  who  was  yet  living,  and  taken  up  with  a 
young  woman,  and  they  were  actually  living  in  open 
adultery.  He  had,  as  he  said,  been  awfully  convict- 
ed during  the  meeting.  He  said  he  knew  he  had 
once  enjoyed  religion,  but  had  lost  it.  He  knew  he 
had  lost  it  all,  and  that,  therefore,  the  doctrine  of  the 
unconditional  perseverance  of  the  saints,  which  he 
had  preached  for  many  years,  was  false;  but  he 
wanted  to  be  saved,  and  he  desired  to  join  the  Meth- 
odist Church.  He  said  he  belonged  to  a  secret 
society,  and  they  had  not  excluded  him  from  that 
society,  and  they  were  honorable,  high-minded  men. 

All  this  took  place  in  the  public  congregation.  1 
told  him  that  if  we,  as  a  Church,  could  do  him  any 
good  on  fair  Scriptural  terms,  we  should  be  glad  to 


U8  AUTOBIOGRAPHi    OF 

io  it.  "But,"  said  I,  "you  can  not  be  so  ignorant  as 
not  to  know  that  the  word  of  God  condemns  your 
course,  and  if  our  sins  are  as  dear  to  us  as  a  right 
foot,  or  hand,  or  eye,  they  must  be  cut  off,  or  plucked 
out,  and  cast  from  us,  or  we  can  not  enter  heaven. 
Now,  sir,  are  you  willing,  and  will  you  give  up  this 
course  of  living,  put  away  the  woman  with  whom 
you  are  now  living,  and  go  and  live  with  your  law- 
ful wife,  and  will  you  do  it  now?" 

He  burst  into  tears,  wrung  his  hands  in  apparent 
agony,  and  said  he  wanted  to  be  saved.  "But  will 
you  not  take  me  in  on  trial  six  months?" 

"  No,  sir,  we  will  not,  unless  you  sacredly  pledge 
yourself,  before  God  and  the  Church,  that  you  will, 
from  this  moment,  abandon  your  present  course  of 
living." 

He  said  he  was  afraid  to  promise  this. 

"  Then,"  said  I,  "  it  is  altogether  useless  to  say  an- 
other word  on  the  subject,  for  we  will  not,  under  any 
consideration,  receive  you  even  on  trial." 

So  we  parted,  and  I  fear  he  was  eternally  lost. 
Now,  whether  this  was  my  mud  turtle  or  not,  about 
which  I  dreamed,  I  can  not  say}  yet  it  really  looked 
to  me  very  much  like  it. 

A  few  years  before  this,  there  had  been  transferred 
from  the  Baltimore  conference  a  warm-hearted, 
lively,  and  zealous  preacher  by  the  name  of  James 
Ward.  His  labors  were  greatly  blessed,  and  some 
very  powerful  revivals  of  religion  followed.  There 
was  also  a  tolerably-popular  Baptist  minister,  by  the 

name  of  J.  V n,  who  attended  several  of  brother 

Ward's  meetings ;  arid  whether  he  was  in  reality 
stirred  up,  or  from  other  considerations,  I  will  not 
pretend  to  judge,  but  so  it  was ;  he  started  out  on  a 
large  preaching  scale,  lie  was  a  tolerably-good 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  149 

preacher,  and  he  was  popular,  and  he  soon  had  a 
mighty  stir  in  the  Baptist  Church,  and  hundreds 
joined  that  Church,  and  he  baptized  them.  He 
greatly  erred  on  one  subject;  that  was,  he  took  a 
great  deal  of  pleasure  in  proselyting  from  other 
Churches  and  making  them  members  of  his  Church, 
as  he  said,  "  by  wetting  their  jackets,"  that  is,  im- 
mersing them.  He  had  been  very  successful  in  the 
tipper  counties  of  Kentucky. 

I  had  once  accidentally  fallen  in  at  one  of  his  ap- 
pointments, and  heard  him  preach,  but  had  no  intro- 
duction to  him;  and  from  this  circumstance  I  knew 
\im,  but  he  did  not  know  me.  About  this  time  he 
sent  a  train  of  appointments  down  in  the  southern 
parts  of  Kentucky  and  West  Tennessee,  about  Nash- 
ville, etc.,  etc.  I  had  been  on  to  Baltimore,  attend- 
ing General  conference,  and  was  returning  home 
near  Hopkinsville,  in  southern  Kentucky,  in  the 
month  of  June.  We  traveled  in  those  days  mostly 
on  horseback.  It  was  very  warm,  and  dusty  riding 
When  I  got  to  Nashville  I  was  informed  that  Mr. 
V.  had  just  closed  a  protracted  meeting  in  Nashville, 
and  was  to  start  for  Hopkinsville  that  morning,  and 
that  it  was  probable  I  would  fall  in  with  him ;  and  so 
it  turned  out.  A  few  miles  from  Nashville  I  fell  in 
with  him.  It  being  so  warm  and  dusty  I  had  pulled 
off  my  coat  and  neckerchief,  and  tied  them  on  be- 
hind me,  and  of  course  I  was  very  dirty,  and  looked, 
I  suppose,  very  little  like  a  preacher.  I  rode  up  and 
epoke  to  Mr.  V.,  and  he  to  me.  I  had,  in  one  respect, 
Jie  advantage  of  him.  I  knew  him,  but  he  did  not 
know  me,  but  I  studiously  avoided  calling  him  by 
name.  He  was  very  familiar  and  loquacious. 

"You  are  traveling,  sir?" 

"  Yes,  sir,"  was  my  reply. 


150  AUTO  B  100  R  A  P  li  Y    OF 

"What  parts  are  you  from?" 

"  I  am  directly  from  the  city  of  Baltimore,"  said  1. 

"  Well,  what  is  the  news  in  that  country  ?"  said  he. 

"  Nothing  very  strange,"  said  I. 

"  Well,"  said  he,  "  what  is  the  most  prevalent  re- 
ligion, or  most  numerous  denomination  in  that  city  T' 

"  Well,"  said  I,  "  those  despicable  Methodists  are 
the  most  numerous  of  any  Protestant  Church  there," 
answering  him  with  a  view  to  draw  him  out. 

"Well,"  said  he,  "that  is  a  pity,  for  they  are  on  a 
very  rotten  and  sandy  foundation." 

"Yes,"  said  I,  "but  perhaps  the  people  might  fall 
into  worse  hands." 

"  Hardly,"  said  he.  "  But,  sir,  how  are  the  Bap- 
tists prospering  in  and  about  Baltimore?" 

"  Well,"  said  I,  "  the  Baptists  are  hardly  known  in 
that  country." 

"  Are  you  not  mistaken,  sir  ?" 

"No,  sir,  I  am  not  mistaken." 

"  Well,  what  can  be  the  cause  of  that  ?" 

"Why,  sir,  it  is  not  strange  at  all ;  the  Baptists  are 
exclusive  immersionists,  and  won't  commune  with  any 
other  Christian  denominatior  ;  and  they,  on  these 
principles,  can  not  flourish  among  an  enlightened  and 
intelligent  religious  community." 

Just  here  the  battle  commenced,  and  this  was  what 
I  wanted.  He  began  to  eulogize  the  Baptists,  and 
contended  that  their  mode  of  baptism  was  the  only 
one  that  was  Scriptural.  The  battle,  or  irgument, 
lasted  several  hours,  as  we  rode  on  side  by  side ;  but 
at  length  he  showed  unmistakable  signs  of  confu- 
sion, for  he  left  the  field  of  argument,  and  began  tc 
boast  of  the  hundreds  of  Methodists  and  Presbyterians 
that  he  had  immersed,  and  said  "  he  was  on  his  way 
then  to  Hopkinsville,  and  expected  to  immerse  many 


PETER   CARTWRIGDT.  151 

(,/  tue  Methodists,  the  converts  of  Peter  Cartwright, 
a  Methodist  preacher  that  lived  down  there;  anil, 
sir,"  said  he,  "there  is  no  Scripture  for  infant  bap- 
tism." I  then  asked  the  following  questions  : 

"Do  yon  believe  that  all  children  are  saved,  and 
go  to  heaven,  and  that  there  is  not  one  infant  in 
hell?" 

"  Certainly  I  do,"  said  he. 

"Well,  if  there  arc  no  children  in  hell,  and  al 
children  dying  in  minority  go  to  heaven,  is  not  that 
Church  that  has  no  children  in  it  more  like  hell  than 
heaven?" 

This  question  closed  our  argument,  for  he  aflSwered 
not  at  all.  Just  then  we  came  to  the  forks  of  the  road ; 
the  right,  which  he  was  to  go,  led  to  Russellville,  and 
the  left,  my  road,  to  Uopkinsville.  As  we  shook 
hands  and  parted,  said  I,  "  Mr.  V.,  I  know  you, 
and  have  the  advantage  of  you;  my  name  is  Peter 
Cartwright;  I  live  two  miles  from  Hopkinsville, 
where  you  are  going  next  week  to  wet  so  many  of 
the  jackets  of  my  Methodist  members;  call  and  stay 
all  night  with  me ;  and  I  will  help  you  make  out  your 
notes,  and  will  see  to  the  wetting  of  the  jackets  of 
my  members."  lie  promised  to  do  so,  but  never 
came  to  my  house.  lie  attended  to  his  appointments, 
but  wet  no  Methodist  jackets,  and  never  succeeded  in 
winning  any  great  spoils  in  that  region  of  country. 
He  nourished  awhile;  then  joined  the  Cainpbellites; 
then  left  them,  and  returned  to  the  Baptist  Church, 
as  I  am  informed;  then  moved  to  Missouri,  and 
i  hope  his  end  was  peaceful. 


152  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

BISHOP    ASBURY. 

IN  the  fall  of  1815  our  conference  was  held  at 
Bethlehem  meeting-house,  in  Wilson  county,  Tennes- 
see. Bishops  Asbury  and  M'Kendree  attended,  though 
they  were  both  in  feeble  health;  and  this  was  the 
last  conference  in  the  west  that  we  were  permitted 
to  see  Bishop  Asbury.  He  preached  to  us  with  great 
unction  and  power,  though  in  extremely-feeble  health, 
not  able  to  stand,  and  had  to  sit  while  he  spoke  to  us 
for  the  last  time.  At  this  conference  we  elected  our 
delegates  to  the  General  conference,  which  was  to 
meet  in  Baltimore  on  the  first  of  May,  1816.  After 
the  election  was  over  Bishop  Asbury  called  us — that 
is,  the  delegate  elected — to  his  room,  and  then  and 
there  told  us  about  the  dissatisfaction  that  had  made 
its  appearance  among  some  of  the  preachers  with  the 
government  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  ex- 
plained the  cause,  and  advised  us  to  hold  fast  to  the 
.andmarks  of  Discipline  with  .1  firm  grasp.  His 
whole  soul  seemed  to  go  out  after  the  unity  of  Meth 
odism,  and  to  adopt  every  prudential  measure  to  prt, 
vent  any  schism  among  us.  He  was  very  desirous  to 
reach  the  General  conference ;  but  the  Lord  ordered 
it  otherwise ;  for,  after  he  left  Tennessee  to  go  to 
South  Carolina,  he  was  attacked  with  a  complication 
of  diseases;  but  still  slowly  moved  on  north,  in  hope 
of  meeting  the  General  conference  in  Baltimore. 
On  the  24th  of  March  he  reached  Richmond,  Yir- 


PETER  CARTWRIGHT.  153 

ginia,  where  he  preached  his  last  sermon.  Being  too 
feeble  to  walk,  he  was  carried  in  the  arms  of  his 
friends  to  the  house  of  God,  and  then  propped  on  a 
table ;  there,  as  he  sat,  he  delivered  his  last  message  to 
mortal  man,  hardly  able  to  do  so  for  want  of  breath. 
His  sermon  had  a  thrilling  effect  upon  the  congrega- 
tion. After  preaching  he  was  borne  back  to  his 
carriage,  and  still  urged  on  his  way  toward  Baltimore. 
But  when  he  arrived  at  the  house  of  his  old  friend, 
Mr.  George  Arnold,  about  twenty  miles  south  of 
Fredericsburg,  Virginia,  he  could  proceed  no  further. 

It  was  on  Friday  evening,  the  29th  of  March,  when 
this  man  of  God,  who  had  traveled  half  a  century, 
near  three  hundred  thousand  miles,  was  taken  from 
his  carriage  the  last  time.  lie  lingered  till  Sunday, 
the  31st  of  March,  in  great  distress  of  body.  On  that 
day,  at  the  usua}  bour  of  religious  worship,  he  re- 
quested the  family  to  come  together.  The  Rev.  John 
W.  Bond,  who  had  been  his  traveling  companion  for 
two  years,  prayed,  and  read  and  expounded  the  twenty- 
first  chapter  of  Revelation.  During  these  exercises 
the  dying  man  of  God  was  calm,  and  much  engaged 
in  prayer.  A  few  minutes  after  the  close  of  these  re- 
ligious services,  as  he  was  sitting  in  his  chair,  with 
his  head  reclined  on  the  hand  of  his  faithful  attendant, 
without  a  struggle  or  a  sigh,  he  fell  asleep  in  death. 

lie  was  buried  in  the  family  burying-ground  of 
brother  Arnold,  at  whose  house  he  died;  but  the  Gen- 
eral conference,  at  its  session  on  the  1st  of  May,  1816, 
at  the  request  of  the  people  of  Baltimore,  ordered  his 
remains  removed,  and  deposited  in  a  vault  prepared 
for  that  purpose  beneath  the  pulpit  of  Eutaw-Street 
Church. 

The  reinterment  of  this  great  and  good  man  pre- 
lented  a  scene  of  the  most  thrilling  interest  that  I 


15 1  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

ever  behold.  The  body  was  follo\ved  from  the  Light 
Street  to  the  Eutaw-Street  Church  by  avast  concourse 
of  people.  At  the  head  of  the  procession  marched 
Bishop  M'Kendree,  the  faithful  colleague  of  the  de- 
parted Asbury;  next  followed  the  members  of  the 
General  conference,  and  last  came  the  people  in  al- 
most unnumbered  thousands.  Bishop  M'Kendree 
pronounced  the  funeral  oration,  and  many  were  the 
tears  shed  by  the  weeping  attendants ;  and  the  mortal 
body  of  the  venerable  Bishop  Asbury  was  laid  to  rest 
till,  the  general  resurrection. 

Over  the  vault  is  inscribed  the  following  epitaph: 

SACRED 

to  the  memory  of 
THE  REV.  FRANCIS  ASBURY, 

Bishop  of  the 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

He  was  Bom  in  England,  August  20th,  17-15 ; 

Entered    the   Ministry  at   the   age   of  seventeen ; 

Came  a  Missionary  to  America,  1771; 

Was  ordained  Bishop  in  this  city  December  27th,  1784  ; 

Annually  visited  the  Conferences  in  the  United  States  with 

much  zeal ;  continued  to  preach  the  word 

for  more  than  half  a  century  ; 
and  literally  ended  his  labors  with  his  life, 

near  Fredericsburg,  Virginia, 
in  the  full  triumph  of  faith,  on  the  31st  of  March,  1816, 

aged  70  years,  7  months,  and  1 1  days. 
His  remains  were  deposited  in  this  vault,  May  10th,  1816, 

by  the  General  conference  then  sitting  in  this  city. 

His  Journals  will  exhibit  to  posterity  his  labors,  his  diflic.ullies) 

his  sufferings,  his  patience,  his  perseverance, 

his  love  to  God  and  man. 

Kls  remains  were  again  removed  from  this  vault,  and  deposited 

by  order  of  the  General  conference  of  1852,  in  a 

cemetery  near  Baltimore  ;  and  a  monument 

is  raised  to  perpetuate  his  memory  to 

future  generations. 


PETER  <3AHTWUlaflT.  155 

I  will  here  state  a  case,  in  reference  to  Bishop  An- 
bury's transcendently  superior  talent  to  read  men, 
•which  occurred  at  one  of  our  western  conferences. 
The  conference  had  been  preceded  with  glorious  re- 
vivals of  religion,  and  many  of  the  wealthy,  and  some 
of  the  learned,  had  joined  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  among  whom  were  two  very  learned  young 
men ;  one  of  them  the  son  of  a  very  distinguished, 
learned  teacher,  the  other  the  son  of  a  general — a  dis* 
tinguished,  wealthy  man,  Both  of  these  young  men 
professed  to  have  a  call  to  the  ministry,  and  came  with 
a  recommendation  to  the  conference  to  be  received 
on  trial  in  the  traveling  connection.  They  were  both 
present,  and  Bishop  Asbury  had  narrowly  observed 
<-heir  conduct  and  conversation.  At  the  proper  time 
brother  Learner  Blackman,  their  presiding  elder, 
presented  their  recommendations.  He  spoke  of  them 
in  the  highest  terms,  and  considered  them  a  great  ac- 
quisition to  the  ministry  and  the  Church.  The  con- 
ference received  them  with  great  unanimity.  Bishop 
Asbury  had  sat  with  his  eyes  nearly  shut.  After  they 
w^re  received  he  seemed  to  wake  up.  "Yes,  yes!" 
he  exclaimed;  "in  all  probability  they  both  will  dis- 
grace you  and  themselves  before  the  year  is  out." 
And  sure  enough,  in  six  months  one  was  riding  the 
circuit  with  a  loaded  pistol  and  a  dirk,  threatening  to 
shoot  and  stab  the  rowdies ;  the  other  was  guilty  of  a 
misdemeanor,  and  in  less  than  nine  months  they  were 
both  out  of  the  Church.  Bishop  Asbury  would  often 
say  to  the  preachers,  "  You  read  books,  but  I  read 
men." 

We  received  our  appointments  for  this  conference 
year,  1815-16,  with  but  little  dissatisfaction.  I  was 
returned  to  the  Green  River  district.  Our  increase 
of  members  or  preachers,  in  the  Ohio  and  Tennessee 


15G  AUTOBIOG&APHY   OF 

conference,  was  but  small  this  year,  though  we  had 
some  increase. 

In  the  spring  of  1816  our  General  conference  con- 
vened, on  the  1st  of  May,  in  the  city  of  Baltimore. 
This  was  the  second  delegated  General  conference  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  the  first  to  which 
I  was  elected. 

We  had  no  steamboats,  railroad  cars,  or  comfortable 
stages  in  those  days.  We  had  to  travel  from  the  ex- 
treme west  on  horseback.  It  generally  took  us  near 
a  month  to  go;  a  month  was  spent  at  General  confer- 
ence, and  nearly  a  month  in  returning  to  our  fields 
of  labor.  How  different  the  facilities  of  travel  *hen 
and  now ! 

Bishop  Asbury  being 'dead,  and  Bishop  M'Kendrcc'i 
health  being  poor,  it  became  necessary  to  have  two 
more  bishops,  and,  accordingly,  we  elected  Enoch 
George  and  R.  11.  Roberts,  two  good  men,  and  tal- 
ented, regularly  drilled  in  the  itinerant  work,  and 
well  prepared,  from  experience  and  practice,  to  sym- 
pathize with  the  seven  hundred  traveling  preach- 
ers they  had  to  station  every  year,  suiting  their  tal- 
ents to  over  two  hundred  and  fourteen  thousand  mem- 
bers in  these  United  States  and  tcrrtorics,  and  the 
provinces  of  Canada. 

This  was  a  year  of  general  prosperity  throughout 
the  connection;  over  thirty  thousand  probationers 
had  been  added  to  the  Church.  Many  of  us  feared 
that  at  the  decease  of  Bishop  Asbury,  dissensions  and 
divisions  would  arise  and  injure  our  beloved  Zion; 
but  we  had  no  question  that  gave  us  much  trouble  at 
that  time.  It  is  true  slavery  was  a  troublesome  matter 
to  legislate  on ;  but  the  one-eyed  creature  called  Rabid 
Abolitionism  had,  at  that  time,  been  just  born,  and 
had  but  just  cut  its  teeth,  and  could  not  bite  hard;  and 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  157 

it  is  a  notorious  fact,  that  all  the  preachers  from  the 
slaveholding  states  denounced  slavery  as  a  moral 
evil ;  but  asked  of  the  General  conference  mercy 
and  forbearance  on  account  of  the  civil  disabilities 
they  labored  under,  so  that  we  got  along  tolerably 
smooth.  I  do  not  recollect  a  single  Methodist 
preacher,  at  that  day,  that  justified  slavery.  But 
0,  how  have  times  changed ! 

Methodist  preachers  in  those  days  made  it  a  matter 
of  conscience  not  to  hold  their  fellow-creatures  in 
bondage,  if  it  was  practicable  to  emancipate  them, 
conformably  to  the  laws  of  the  state  in  which  they 
lived.  Methodism  increased  and  spread  ;  and  many 
Methodist  preachers,  taken  from  comparative  poverty, 
not  able  to  own  a  negro,  and  who  preached  loudly 
igainst  it,  improved,  and  became  popular  among 
slaveholders ;  and  many  of  them  married  into  those 
slaveholding  families,  and  became  personally  inter- 
ested in  slave  property,  as  it  is  called.  Then  they 
began  to  apologize  for  the  evil ;  then  to  justify  it,  on 
legal  principles;  then  on  Bible  principles;  till  lo  and 
behold !  it  is  not  an  evil,  but  a  good ;  it  is  not  a  curse, 
but  a  blessing ;  till  really  you  would  think,  to  hear 
them  tell  the  story,  if  you  had  the  means  and  did  not 
buy  a  good  lot  of  them,  you  would  go  to  the  devil  for 
not  enjoying  the  labor,  toil,  and  sweat  of  this  de- 
graded race,  and  all  this  without  rendering  them  any 
equivalent  whatever ! 

^  I  will  here  repeat  what  I  have  elseAvhere  stated  in 
this  narrative,  that  I  verily  believe  if  the  Methodist 
preachers  had  gone  on  as  in  olden  times,  bearing  a 
testimony  against  the  moral  evil  of  slavery,  and  kept 
clear  of  it  themselves,  and  never  meddled  with  it 
politically,  and  formed  no  free-soil  or  abolition  soci- 
eties, and  given  all  their  money  and  the  productions 


158  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

of  theii  pens  in  favor  of  the  colonization  organiza- 
tions, that  .oiig  before  this  time  many  of  the  slave 
states  would  have  been  free  states ;  and,  in  my  opin- 
ion, this  is  the  only  effectual  way  to  get  clear  of  slav- 
ery. If  agitation  must  succeed  agitation,  strife  suc- 
ceed strife,  compromise  succeed  compromise,  it  will 
end  in  a  dissolution  of  this  blessed  Union,  civil  war 
will  follow,  and  rivers  of  human  blood  stain  the  soil 
of  our  happy  country. 

At  this  General  conference  I  heard,  for  the  firsl 
time  in  my  life,  whisperings  and  innuendoes  against 
the  government  of  the  Church.  I  suppose  radicalism 
had  just  pipped-.  Many  of  our  preachers  that  had 
traveled  had,  as  I  said  before,  married  into  slave- 
holding  and  otherwise  wealthy  families.  Some  of  the 
first  order  of  talent,  that  had  located,  began  to  say 
that  local  preachers  ought  to  have  a  voice  in  the  law- 
making  department  of  the  Church ;  and  in  order  to 
make  friends,  they  said  the  laity  ought  to  have  a  voice 
in  all  the  conferences ;  but  there  was  no  special  out- 
break at  this  General  conference.  But  the  unhallowed 
leaven  of  disaffection  spread;  the  friends  of  reform,  so 
called,  established  a  press  and  formed  what  they  called 
Union  Societies ;  so  that  by  public  lectures,  the  Union 
Societies,  and  the  press,  by  1820,  when  the  General 
conference  met  again  in  Baltimore,  it  was  astounding 
to  see  what  evil  disaffections  had  taken  place. 

They  then  came  out  boldly.  They  wanted  to  revo 
iutionize  the  whole  government  of  the  Methodis* 
Episcopal  Church.  Many  of  our  old  and  talented 
preachers  were  loud  and  bitter  in  complaints  againsf 
our  Church  government;  and  I  was  greatly  alai mod 
to  see  so  many  strong,  talented  men  carried  away. 
Some  of  the  hardest  and  bitterest  things  ever  written 
or  spoken  against  the  power  of  the  bishops,  or  the 


PETER   CARTWRIGHT.  159 

despotism  of  the  itinerant  preachers'  administration, 
were  spoken  and  written  by  men  that  were  afterward 
made  bishops  nf  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  a.nd 
the  Southern  Church.  Motion  after  motion  was  made, 
resolution  after  resolution  was  introduced,  debate  fol- 
lowed debate,  f:>r  days,  not  to  say  weeks.  The  rad- 
icals wanted  to  take  away  the  power  of  the  bishops  to 
appoint  preachers  to  their  fields  of  labor;  especially 
to  deprive  them  of  the  power  to  appoint  presiding 
elders,  and  make  them  elective  by  the  annual  confer- 
ences ;  to  have  a  lay  delegation,  and  many  other  things. 

Finally,  they  concentrated  all  their  arguments  to 
make  presiding  elders  elective;  but  on  counting 
noses,  they  found  we  had  a  majority,  though  small; 
and  rather  than  be  defeated,  they  moved  for  a  com- 
mittee of  compromise.  Strong  men  from  each  side 
were  chosen;  they  patched  up  a  sham  compromise, 
as  almost  all  compromises  are,  in  Church  or  state. 
The  committee  reported  in  favor,  whenever  a  pre- 
siding elder  was  needed  for  any  district,  the  bishop 
should  have  the  right  to  nominate  three  persons,  and 
the  conferences  should  have  the  right  to  elect  one 
of  the  three.  This  report  passed  by  a  vote  of  about 
sixty ;  there  were  twenty-three,  if  my  recollection  is 
correct,  in  the  minority  against  it. 

This  report  having  passed,  the  radicals  had  a  real 
jubilee.  It  was  the  entering  wedge  to  many  other 
revolutionary  projects;  and  they  began  to  pour  them 
in  at  a  mighty  rate.  I  had,  in  my  speech  in  debate 
on  the  subject,  predicted  that  this  would  be  the  case. 
Our  friends  began  to  see  their  error,  but  it  was  well- 
nigh  too  late. 

In  the  mean  time  Bishop  Soule,  now  of  the  Church 
South,  had  been  elected  to  the  office  of  a  bishop, 
and  he  informed  the  General  conference  that  he 


160  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

could  not  be  ordained,  because  he  could  not  conscien 
tiously  administer  the  government  according  to  this 
inglorious  compromise.  (Perhaps  this  was  the  best 
act  that  Bishop  Soule  ever  performed.) 

In  the  mean  time  I  visited  the  room  of  Bishop 
M'Kendree,  who  was  too  feeble  to  preside  in  the 
conference.  He  wept,  and  said  this  compromise 
wvould  ruin  the  Church  forever  if  not  changed,  and 
advised  that  we  make  a  united  effort  to  suspend 
*;hese  rules  or  regulations  for  four  years,  and  we 
counted  votes,  and  found  we  could  do  it,  and  intro- 
duced a  resolution  to  that  effect.  And  now  the  war 
commenced  afresh,  and  after  debating  the  resolu- 
tion for  several  days,  the  radicals  found  that  if  the 
vote  was  put  we  would  carry  it,  and  they  determined 
to  break  the  quorum  of  the  house,  and  for  two  or 
three  times  they  succeeded.  Bishop  Roberts  at 
length  rebuked  them  sharply,  and  said,  "  If  you  can 
not  defeat  the  measure  honorably,  you  ought  not  to 
do  it  at  all.  Now,"  said  he,  "  keep  your  seats  and 
vote  like  men."  This  awed  several  of  them,  and 
they  kept  their  scats;  the  vote  was  put  and  carried, 
and  these  obnoxious  rules  were  suspended  for  four 
years. 

But  peace  and  harmony  were  very  far  from  being 
restored  to  the  Church.  A  strong  and  violent  effort 
was  made  for  the  next  four  years  by  the  revolution- 
ists, to  carry  their  radical  measures,  and  thousands  of 
our  members  became  disaffected,  and  by  their  con- 
stant agitations  disturbed  the  peace,  and  endangered 
the  harmony  of  the  Church,  till  it  really  became 
imperatively  necessary  to  arrest  these  lawless  disturb- 
i  rs  of  the  peace  of  the  Church.  They  were  arrested, 
brought  to  trial,  and  expelled  for  rebellion  against  the 
constituted  authorities  of  the  Church. 


PETER    CAKTWRIGHT.  1(51 

These  wholesome  and  salutary  measures  were,  by 
ihose  self-styled  reformers,  denounced  as  tyranny  and 
despotism.  At  our  next  General  conference,  in  Balti- 
more, in  1824,  the  radical  Avar  against  the  Church 
still  raged  with  unabated  fury  ;  but  we  still  had  a 
majority  in  favor  of  our  old  and  well-tried  govern- 
ment, and  we  succeeded,  after  long  and  tedious  de ' 
bate,  in  suspending  those  heretical  rules  for  four  years 
more.  This  was  the  death  warrant  to  the  revolution- 
ists. From  this  time,  many  of  the  preachers  and 
members  began  calmly  to  review  their  ground  of 
reform,  and  became  well  satisfied  that  it  was  all 
wrong ;  and  they  retraced  their "  steps,  and  became 
able  and  efficient  expositors  of  the  polity  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church. 

The  reaction  threw  death  and  destruction  into  the 
radical  ranks,  and  created,  as  they  thought,  the  ne- 
cessity of  a  separate  organization.  Accordingly,  they 
set  to  work,  and  formed  what  they  were  pleased  to 
call  the  Protestant  Methodist  Church,  to  which  they 
incorporated  all  those  radical  measures  for  which 
they  so  strenuously  contended  before  their  amputa- 
tion or  secession.  They  carried  off  thousands  of  our 
members,  and  many  of  our  very  talented  preachers, 
and  now  they  thought  they  would  sweep  the  world ; 
and  truly  they  have  swept  it,  for  they  formed  a  com- 
plete trash  trap,  and  a  great  many  of  our  unfaithful 
members  and  preachers,  that  walked  disorderly  and 
would  not  be  reproved  or  cured,  have  gone  into  it, 
and  upon  the  whole  they  have  saved  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  a  great  deal  of  trouble*  in  trying 
and  expelling  disorderly  preachers  and  members ; 
for  whenever  they  were  expelled  or  arraigned  for 
misconduct,  they  fled  to  these  seceders.  They  took 
them  in,  regardless  of  the  crimes  laid  to  their  charge ; 
11 


162  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

and  by  1828,  when  our  General  conference  sat  m 
I'ittsburg,  this  little  radical  brat  gave  its  last  squeak 
among  us,  and  we  repealed  those  obnoxious  rules  arid 
cgulations.  The  Church  was  restored  to  peace  and 
harmonious  action,  and  we  have  done  infinitely  better 
without  them  than  we  did  with  them. 

That  this  professed  reform  has  proved,  beyond  any 
reasonable  doubt,  an  entire  failure,  I  think  can  not  be 
questioned  by  any  impartial  and  unprejudiced  mind. 
Over  thirty  years  have  rolled  by  since  they  organized. 
They  boasted  that  they  commenced  with  over  twenty 
thousand  members,  headed  by  a  strong  corps  of  tal- 
ented preachers ;  and  after  gathering  up  thousands 
of  the  expelled  arid  disaffected  members  of  the  Meth- 
odist, as  well  as  other  Churches,  their  numerical  strength 
at  this  day  is  not,  perhaps,  over  seventy  thousand. 
They  have  tried  to  their  hearts'  content  their  Presby- 
terian form  of  government  and  their  lay  delegation. 
Their  operations  remind  one  of  an  old  horse-mil! 
with  about  one-third  of  the  cogs  out  of  the  main 
wheel.  There  is  a  mighty  jarring  and  jolting,  and 
often  a  mighty  strife  about  who  shall  be  the  big  man. 
Woe  to  them  that  kick  against  the  pricks. 

And  now  I  say,  and  I  speak  with  a  respectful  defer- 
ence, was  there  ever  a  heresy  in  doctrine  or  Church 
government  that  was  not  started  by  preachers?  Look 
at  the  ten  thousand  and  one  erroneous  doctrines, 
schisms,  and  divisions,  that  have  sprung  up  almost  in 
every  country  and  clime,  and  in  almost  every  age,  and 
then  ask,  was  there  not  a  preacher  or  preachers 
at  the  head  of  it?  And  here  I  may  speak  with  confi- 
dence, and  say,  so  far  as  the  Methodist  Church  is  con- 
cerned, from  the  days  of  Jchn  Wesley  down  to  the 
present,  there  never  has  been  a  schism  or  a  division 
in  3ur  Church  but  it  was  headed  by  a  preacher  or 


PETER    CART  W  RIGHT.  103 

pre.icncrs,  that  have  become  wise  above  what  is 
written.  Witness  the  seven  divisions  among  the 
Wesleyan  Methodists  in  England ;  then  view  the 
secessions  in  these  United  States,  in  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church.  Look  at  Hammet  in  the  south, 
at  Stillwell  in  New  York;  see  James  O'Kelly  in 
Virginia;  then  behold  the  radical  secession  from 
1820  to  1828  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of 
the  land;  then  come  to  the  great  secession  of  the 
South  in  1844. 

If  these  secessions  had  been  left  to  the  voice  of  our 
members,  would  they  ever  have  taken  place?  No, 
verily,  no,  will  be  the  answer  of  every  intelligent 
man,  woman,  and  child.  But  these  preachers  took 
an  ungodly  advantage  of  the  members  who  stood 
firmly  and  strongly  opposed  to  a  division  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  now,  to  keep  up 
appearances,  these  very  preachers,  with  their  bribed 
judges,  sneeringly  call  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  the  Methodist  Church,  North,  and  say  we  are 
all  rabid  abolitionists,  when  they  do  verily  know 
it  is  all  false.  At  their  late  General  conference  they 
have  fully  disclosed  the  cloven  foot  of  the  slavery- 
loving  preachers,  for  they  have  stricken  out  of  their 
Discipline  every  rule  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  and 
had  well-nigh  stricken  out  that  part  of  the  General 
Rules  that  interdicts  the  slave-trade  —  according  to. 
their  interpretation.  I  should  not  be  greatly  sur- 
prised if,  in  a  few  years,  this  rule  goes  by  the  board, 
and  some  of  these  slavery-loving  preachers  are 
engaged  in  importing  them  by  the  thousands  into 
Jiis  land  of  the  free  and  home  of  the  brave.  0,  kind 
Heaven,  prevent  it,  and  reclaim  these  wretched  wan- 
derers ! 

And  now,  though  we  have  spoken  freely  of  preach- 


161  AUTOBIOUKAI'H  Y    OF 

crs  an<l  their  faults,  their  errors  ought  not  to  he  con- 
cealed. But  this  fact  is  not,  as  we  conceive,  any  tri- 
umph to  infidelity,  nor  should  it  discourage  the  Church. 
Among  the  first  twelve  that  Christ  called  to  the 
blessed  work  of  the  ministry  there  were  two  that 
fatally  erred :  Judas  betrayed  and  Peter  denied  him ; 
the  love  of  money  and  the  fear  of  man  were  too  strong 
for  their  religious  attachment  to  Christ,  and  only 
proves  the  necessity  of  sacrificing  every  thing  for  the 
immortal  honors  of  the  cross;  and  although  our  sins 
are  as  near  and  dear  to  us  as  a  right  eye,  hand,  or 
foot,  they  must  he  plucked  out,  or  cut  off,  and  cast 
from  us,  knowing  it  is  better,  infinitely  better,  to 
make  these  sacrifices  than  retain  them  all,  and  be  cast 
into  hell.  What  a  sad  account  will  many  preachers 
have  to  give  in  the  day  of  judgment,  who  have 
preached  a  free  salvation  to  listening  thousands,  while 
their  poor  degraded  slaves  are  deprived  of  many  of 
the  blessings  of  life,  and  privileges  of  civil  and  relig- 
ious liberty  !  These  preachers  must  and  do  know  that 
slavery  is  at  war  with  the  attributes  and  perfections 
of  God,  who  will  never  punish  the  innocent  or  let  the 
guilty  go  free. 

Whoever  before  knew  of  a  professed  slavery  Church  ? 
that  is,  one  which  justified  slavery  by  the  word  of  God? 
Well  may  some  of  them  be  ashamed  of  their  assumed 
,name,  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  fioulh,  and  wish  to 
change  it;  for  it  is  evident  that  they  can  never  preach 
the  Gospel  successfully  in  any  country  that  opposes 
slavery;  for  they  could  not,  by  possibility,  have  any 
confidence  in  such  preachers;  and  the  poor  slaves, 
in  proportion  to  their  capabilities  of  reasoning  on  the 
subject,  just  in  that  ratio  must  they  lack  confidence 
in  such  preachers.  Nay,  they  must  lack  confidence 
in  that  God  and  religion  that  these  preachers  rccom- 


PETER   CARTWRIGHT.  165 

mend  to  them,  and  I  am  solemnly  afraid  that  thou- 
sands of  these  poor  slaves  will  be  lost  under  the  influ- 
ence of  these  slaveholding  preachers;  but  I  predict 
the  downfall  of  such  a  Church,  and  hope  by  other 
men  and  means  God  will  yet  save  the  thousands  of 
the  South,  and  preserve  our  happy  Union  till  it  shall 
give  liberty,  civil  and  religious,  to  unnumbered  mill- 
ions ot  the  human  family. 


166  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

FORMATION    OF  EARLY  CIRCUITS  IN  THE  WEST. 

OUR  annual  conference  this  year  was  held  at  Frank- 
lin, Tennessee,  October  20,1816.  Our  increase  this 
year  in  the  west,  including  the  Ohio  and  Tennessee 
conferences,  was  1,203.  Our  increase  of  traveling 
preachers  in  these  two  conferences  was  but  two,  owing 
to  many  locations  for  want  of  means  of  support.  My 
four  years  on  the  Wabash  and  Green  River  district 
having  expired,  Bishop  M'Kendree  told  me  he  desired 
me  to  go  to  the  Holston  district;  but  it  was  a  long 
journey  to  move,  and  I  had  a  young  and  increasing 
family,  and  I  was  poor.  I  asked  him  to  be  excused, 
but  if  he  thought  it  best  I  would  go;  but  he  appointed 
me  to  the  Christian  circuit,  in  the  Green  River  dis- 
trict, James  Axley  presiding  elder;  this  was  the  year 
1816-17. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  in  the  west  we 
always  received  our  appointments  for  the  year  in 
the  fall  of  the  previous  year,  and  it  must  also  be  re- 
membered that  the  General  conference  of  1816  formed 
the  Missouri  conference,  which  covered  that  state, 
and  Arkansas,  Illinois,  and  Indiana  states.  Of  course 
there  was  a  considerable  change  in  our  work.  They 
also,  at  the  same  General  conference,  formed  the 
Mississippi  conference.  The  Ohio  conference  was 
composed  of  Ohio,  Muskingum,  Scioto,  Miami,  and 
Kentucky  districts,  five  in  number.  The  Missouri 
conference  was  composed  of  Illinois  and  Missouri 


FETER    CARTWRIGHT.  167 

districts,  covering  the  principal  settlements  in  four 
large  states,  though  only  two  districts. 

It  is  probable  that  the  first  introduction  of  Method- 
ism in  the  state  of  Indiana  was  in  1802  or  1803.  In 
the  fall  of  1804  Clark's  Grant,  or  the  Illinois  Grant, 
as  it  was  called,  which  was  opposite  and  north  of  Lou- 
isville, was  then  included  in  the  Salt  River  and  Shel- 
byville  circuits,  and  brother  Benjamin  Lakin  and  my- 
self crossed  the  Ohio  river,  and  preached  at  brother 
Robertson's  and  Prather's.  In  this  grant  we  had  two 
classes,  and  splendid  revivals  of  religion ;  and  if  my 
recollection  serves  me  correctly,  this  Illinois  Grant 
was  formed  in  a  circuit  in  1807-8,  and  Moses  Ash- 
worth  was  appointed  to  travel  it ;  it  was  called  Silver 
Creek  circuit.  This  was  the  first  regular  circuit  ever 
formed  in  the  state  of  Indiana,  and  composed  of  one 
hundred  and  eighty-eight  members.  The  next  circuit 
formed  in  the  state  of  Indiana  was  called  Vincennes 
circuit,  which  I  formed  in  1808,  at  the  time  I  fought 
the  memorable  battle  with  the  Shakers,  in  the  Busroe 
settlement,  elsewhere  named  in  this  narrative.  This 
circuit  was  temporarily  supplied,  probably,  till  1811 ; 
it  then  had  125  members,  and  Thomas  Stillwell  was 
its  first  regular  preacher ;  it  belonged  to  the  Green 
River  district.  The  first  introduction  of  Methodism 
in  the  state  of  Illinois  is  hard  to  determine. 

The  real  pioneer  and  leader  of  Episcopal  Methodism 
in  the  state  of  Illinois  was  Captain  Joseph  Ogle,  who 
came  to  Illinois  in  1785,  and  was  converted  under  the 
preaching  of  James  Smith,  Baptist,  of  Kentucky,  who 
visited  and  preached  in  Illinois  in  1787.  The  first 
Methodist  preacher  was  Joseph  Lillard,  who  visited 
this  state  in  1703,  and  formed  a  class  in  St.  Clair 
county,  and  appointed  Captain  Ogle  leader.  The  next 
Mi'tLodist  preacher  was  John  Clarke,  who  was  origin- 


168  ATJTOBIOGRAPIIT    OF 

ally  a  circuit-rider  in  South  Carolina,  from  1701  to 
1796,  when  he  withdrew  on  account  of  slavery.  lie 
was  the  first  man  that  preached  the  Gospel  west  of 
the  Mississippi,  in  1798.  The  Rev.  Hosea  Riggs  was 
the  first  Methodist  preacher  that  settled  in  Illinois, 
and  he  revived  and  reorganized  the  class  at  Captain 
Ogle's,  formed  by  Lillard,  which  had  dropped  its  reg- 
ular meetings. 

From  1798  there  seems  to  have  been  no  regular 
preacher  in  Illinois  till  1804;  then  Benjamin  Young 
was  sent  as  a  missionary.  In  the  fall  of  1805  he  re- 
turned sixty-seven  members,  and  Joseph  Oglesby  was 
appointed  to  succeed  brother  Young  on  the  Illinois 
circuit.  This  circuit  was  in  the  Cumberland  district, 
Western  conference,  and  Lewis  Garrett  presiding 
elder,  though  I  think  he  never  visited  Illinois.  In 
1806  Charles  Mcthany  was  appointed  to  the  Illinois 
circuit.  In  1807  Jesse  Walker  was  appointed  to  this 
circuit,  and  in  1808  John  Clingan.  All  these  early 
pioneer  preachers  have  long  since  passed  away,  and 
gone  to  their  reward.  "Blessed  are  the  dead  that 
die  in  the  Lord;  they  rest  from  their  labors,  and 
their  works  do  follow  them." 

The  Tennessee  conference  was  composed  of  Salt 
River,  Nashville,  Cumberland,  Green  River,  Ilolston, 
and  French  Broad  districts.  The  Mississippi  confer- 
ence was  composed  of  Mississippi  and  Louisiana  dis- 
tricts. Our  old  Western  conference  had  noAV,  in  four 
years  from  its  first  division,  increased  to  four  annual 
conferences,  and  they  started  in  this  form  with  the 
following  ministers  and  members.  According  to  the 
Minutes  of  1817,  Ohio  had  22,171  members  and  (>2 
preachers;  Missouri  had  8,173  members  and  23  trav- 
eling preachers ;  Tennessee  had  19,401  members 
and  53  traveling  preachers;  Mississippi  conference 


had  1,!>41  members,  and  11  traveling  preachers. 
Our  four  conferences  now  covered  the  following  states: 
Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Missouri,  Arkansas,  Louisiana, 
Mississippi,  Alabama,  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  and 
Western  Virginia,  and  some  appointments  in  North 
Carolina.  In  the  fall  of  1813  I  had  left  the  Christian 
circuit  for  the  district,  with  743  members,  and  I  now 
found  54G,  but  parts  of  the  circuit  and  membership 
had  been  merged  into  other  circuits.  I  was  without 
any  helper,  and  it  was  a  full  four  weeks'  circuit. 

This  year  we  had  some  glorious  revivals.  There  was 
a  small  society  of  good  members  some  five  miles  north 
of  Ilopkinsville ;  one  of  our  quarterly  meetings  was 
held  here,  and  a  blessed  work  broke  out ;  some  sev- 
enty were  converted  and  joined  the  Church.  Several 
of  these  young  converts  made  useful  ministers  in  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

Down  near  the  Tennessee  state  line,  there  moved 
and  settled  two  wealthy  Methodist  families,  but  they 
were  surrounded  by  a  strong  settlement  who  were 
very  rigid  Calvinists,  raised  to  hate  the  Methodists. 
I  took  them  in  the  circuit,  but  it  being  a  week-day 
appointment,  and  strong  prejudices  against  .us,  our 
congregations  were  small.  These  two  families  had 
over  one  hundred  and  twenty  slaves,  and  the  slaves 
were  dreadfully  wicked;  they  were  a  drunken,  Sab- 
bath-breaking, and  thievish  set  of  slaves.  The  mas- 
ters were  very  humane  and  indulgent.  There  were 
but  two,  I  believe,  among  them  that  were  professors 
at  all ;  two  old  gray-headed  men.  One  of  them  was  a 
Methodist,  the  other  was  a  Baptist;  both  were  exhort- 
ers  among  the  people  of  color.  The  brother  at  whose 
house  I  preached  was  a  plain,  old-fashioned  Method- 
ist in  almost  every  thing  save  slavery.  I  was  opposed 
to  slavery,  though  I  did  not  meddle  with  it  politically, 
15 


170  ATrTOBICHJKAril  Y   OP 

yet  I  felt  it  my  duty  to  bear  iny  testimony  against  the 
moral  wrong  of  slavery.  The  old  brother  took  some 
exceptions  to  my  testimony  against  it.  I  saw  very 
plainly  that  in  all  probability  these  slaves  must  be 
lost.  On  week-days  they  were  under  an  overseer 
and  not  permitted  to  hear  preaching.  Sundays  they 
were  out  drinking  and  trading,  selling  brooms,  bask 
ets,  and  the  little  articles  they  manufactured.  I  felt 
distressed  at  the  thought  that  they  would  be  lost.  At 
length  I  asked  the  old  brother  to  give  me  the  privi- 
lege to  go  to  their  cabins  and  preach  to  them ;  he 
thought  this  too  great  a  degradation  for  a  preacher. 
I  told  him  if  something  was  not  done  for  them  they 
would  all  be  lost,  and  that  God  held  him  in  a  strong 
sense  accountable,  and  that  something  must  be  done. 
He  said  he  was  willing  I  should  preach  to  them  if  I 
would  preach  to  them  in  his  house.  I  told  him  I  had 
this  objection  to  that :  "  You  white  people  will  be  pres- 
ent, and  your  very  presence  will  embarrass  them  and 
me  both.  I  want  to  talk  to  them  as  ignorant  negroes, 
and  tell  them  of  all  their  drunkenness,  stealing,  acts 
of  adultery,  and  Sabbath-breaking;  and  I  can  not  do 
it  if  the  white  people  are  present."  Ke  then  proposed 
to  give  the  negroes  the  large  room  and  entry,  and 
that  he  and  his  brother-in-law's  family  would  retire  to 
another  room.  I  said,  "If  you  will  let  me  lock  you 
up,  I  will  agree  to  it."  He  assented. 

The  appointment  was  made,  and  all  the  slaves  of 
the  two  families  directed  to  attend.  I  told  John  and 
Harry,  the  two  black  men  that  were  exhorters,  that 
if  any  impression  was  made  on  any  of  them,  they 
must  set  out  a  mourners'  bench,  and  assist  me  in  talk- 
ing to  and  praying  with  them. 

The  day  rolled  on  ;  I  attended ;  the  room  was  full, 
and  entry  too.  I  locked  up  the  white  people,  in 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  177 

anotncr  ro^m  and  went  in  anil  took  my  stand.  There 
ua-s  belonging  to  the  old  brother  a  large,  likely  mu- 
latto man,  the  carriage-driver;  he  dressed  much  finer 
than  his  master;  he  came  and  took  his  stand  in  tie 
door,  his  bosom  full  of  ruffles.  He  looked  scornfully 
on  me,  as  good  as  to  say,  "Yes,  you  think  you  are 
going  to  do  great  things  in  preaching  to  us  colored 
people."  I  sung  and  prayed;  took  my  text;  explained 
the  plan  of  salvation  through  Jesus  Christ;  then  told 
them  of  all  their  dirty  deeds,  in  as  plain  language  as 
I  could  command:  and  then,  in  as  warm  an  exhorta- 
tion as  I  could  give,  I  warned  them  to  flee  from  the 
wrath  to  come;  and  just  as  I  closed,  the  large  ruffle- 
shirted  carriage-driver  fell  full  length  on  the  floor, 
and  made  the  house  jar  and  tremble.  In  a  few  min- 
utes they  fell  right  and  left,  till  the  place  was  strewed 
with  them  in  every  direction.  John  and  Harry,  my 
two  armor-bearers,  set  out  a  bench,  and  gathered 
them  to  it  till  they  could  get  no  more,  for  the  crowd; 
and  the  first  thing  I  knew,  here  were  the  old  brother 
and  his  wife,  his  brother-in-law  and  wife,  talking  to 
and  praying  with  the  negroes,  and  several  of  their 
children  down  with  the  negroes  praying  for  mercy  at 
a  mighty  rate.  Our  meeting  lasted  all  the  afternoon 
and  night,  and  there  were  forty  conversions;  several 
of  the  white  children  among  the  rest.  From  this  a 
blessed  revival  spread  among  the  slaves,  and  many 
of  them,  I  believe,  were  soundly  converted.  I  took 
some  seventy  into  the  Church;  baptized  them  and 
their  children.  Several  of  these  colored  men  made 
respectable  local  preachers  to  preach  to  the  slaves 
around  the  country. 

These  two  old  Methodist  men  said  I  had  in  a  tem- 
poral sense  bettered  or  enhanced  the  value  of  their 
servants  more  than  a  thousand  dollars;  they  ceased 


172  AtrTOBioaRArriY  OF 


getting  drunk,  stealing,  and  breaking  the  Sabbath. 
This  revival  among  the  slaves,  with  many  others 
that  I  have  been  engaged  in,  fully  satisfies  me  that 
the  Gospel  ought  to  be  carried  to  slaves  and  owners  of 
slaves;  for  if  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  will  not  finally 
bring  about  emancipation  of  the  slaves,  nothing  else 
will.  I  am  greatly  astonished  at  many  good  Methodist 
preachers  that  say,  "  Do  n't  carry  the  Gospel  into  slave 
states;  but  deliver  over  to  the  uncovenanted  mercies 
of  God  slaves  and  their  masters;"  for  they  say  virtu- 
ally, none  of  them  can  be  saved.  But  I  know  better  ; 
and  unless  freedom  for  the  slaves  is  accomplished, 
under  the  redeeming  influence  of  religion,  this  happy 
Union  will  be  split  from  center  to  circumference,  and 
then  there  will  be  an  end  to  our  happy  and  glorious 
republic.  And  if  we  do  not  carry  the  Gospel  to  these 
slaves  and  their  masters,  who  will?  surely  not  the 
ministers  who  justify  slavery  by  perverting  the  word 
of  God;  and  still  more  surely  not  abolition  preachers, 
who  by  political  agitation  have  cut  themselves  off 
from  any  access  to  slaveholders  or  slaves. 

I  wish  we  had  a  trained  band  of  preachers  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  who  are  willing  to  let 
our  Discipline  be  as  it  is,  to  send  into  every  slave 
state  in  the  Union.  Surely  here  is  missionary  ground 
that  ought  to  be  occupied  with  great  care,  for  the 
salvation  of  the  perishing  thousands  of  the  south,  and 
for  the  final  overthrow  of  slavery,  under  the  benign 
influences  of  the  Christian  religion. 

There  was  another  incident  occurred  this  year, 
that  I  will  mention  in  this  place.  Many  of  the 
early  Methodists  somehow  imbibed  the  notion  that 
a  quarter  of  a  dollar  meant  what  we  call  quarter- 
age; and  although  many  of  them  were  wealthy,  it 
was  hard  to  .  convince  them  that  twenty-five  cents 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  173 

were  not  quarterage,  and  that  every  member  should 
pay  according  to  his  ability.  This  was  one  cause 
why  so  many  of  our  preachers  were  starved  into  a 
location,  and  of  necessity  had  to  retire  from  the  it;n- 
erant  field. 

There  were  two  wealthy  families  moved  into  m-* 
circuit  from  one  of  the  old  states,  and  settled  in  a 
very  wicked  neighborhood.  They  came  to  me,  and 
insisted  that  I  should  take  them  into  the  circuit  and 
preach  to  them.  I  did  so;  and  formed  a  class  of 
five  white  members,  and  one  old  black  man.  Th« 
round  on  the  circuit  before  the  next  quarterly  meet- 
ing I  told  them,  as  none  of  them  would  go  to  the 
quarterly  meeting,  that  if  they  had  any  thing  to  send 
up  as  their  quarterage  to  support  the  Gospel,  if  they 
would  hand  it  to  me,  I  would  credit  it  to  their  names 
on  the  class  paper. 

The  old  negro  man  stepped  forward  and  laid  down 
his  quarter  of  a  dollar.  Next  came  his  mistress ;  she 
handed  me  two  dollars ;  then  came  her  husband  and 
the  master  of  the  old  black  man,  and  threw  down 
twenty-five  cents. 

Said  I,  ".Colonel,  what  is  this  twenty-five  cents 
for?" 

Said  he,  "  It  is  my  quarterage." 

"Surely,  Colonel,"  said  I,  "you  are  going  to  give 
more  than  that." 

"No,  sir,"  said  he ;  "I  will  have  you  to  know  beg 
gars  are  not  to  be  choosers." 

"  Well,  sir,"  said  I,  "I  will  have  you  to  know  I  am 
no  beggar.  I  have  a  just  claim  on  you,  and  you  owe 
it  to  me;  and  if  you  will  not  give  me  more  than  that, 
I  will  not  have  it." 

"Very  well,"  said  he. 

So  I  left  the  money  on  the  table.     "  And  now,  sir," 


174  A  U  T  0  B  I  0  U  It  A  1'  11  Y    OP 

said  I,  ''if  you  will  not  support  the  Gospel,  I  shall 
riot  leave  any  other  appointment  here,  but  will  g., 
and  preach  to  those  who  arc  willing  to  support  the 
Gospel." 

The  old  brother  was  considerably  riled.  His  good 
lady  expostulated  with  him  ;  but  he  was  inexorable. 
The  sister  told  me  afterward  that  the  Colonel  spent 
a  sleepless  night ;  he  kept  twisting,  and  turning  from 
side  to  side,  and  groaning  all  night.  She  spoke  tc 
him  several  times,  and  told  him  if  he  would  resolve 
to  be  more  liberal,  his  bad  feelings  would  go  off,  and 
he  would  sleep  better.  The  old  brother  got  up  the 
next  morning,  and  after  family  worship  he  said  to 
me: 

"Brother,  what  ought  I  to  give  as  quarterage?" 

"0,"  said  I,  "brother,  I  can't  answer  that  ques- 
tion ;  that  is  a  matter  between  God  and  your  con- 
science. "But,"  said  I,  "brother,  solve  the  following 
question,  and  you  will  know  what  you  ought  to  give : 
If  your  old  negro  man,  not  worth  ten  dollars,  gave 
twenty-five  cents  a  quarter,  Avhat  ought  Colonel  T., 
who  has  seventy  slaves,  two  thousand  acres  of  good 
land,  .several  thousand  dollars  out  at  interest,  and 
worth,  at  least,  fifty  thousand  dollars,  to  give?" 

The  solving  of  this  question  stumped  him,  and  his 
quarterage  ever  afterward,  as  long  as  I  knew  him, 
came  by  dollars  and  not  cents.  And  when  I  last  saw 
him,  as  I  moved  to  Illinois,  he  stopped  me  in  the 
road,  and  said : 

"  Brother,  I  owe  you  a  thousand  dollars,  and  here  's 
part  of  it,"  handing  me  a  fifty  dollar  bill. 

His  excellent  wife,  leaning  on  his  arm,  said  to  mo, 
"I  owe  you  as  much  as  my  husband,  take  a  part," 
and  handed  me  a  twenty  dollar  bill.  Thus  I  cured  a 
quarter-of-a-dollar-quarterage  member ;  and,  my  dear 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  175 

rea Icr,  if  you  are  one  of  these  old  dispensatiouists, 
look  out  for  a  perfect  cure,  or  coiuc  and  be  healed 
of  this  parsimonious  leprosy. 

In  traveling  the  Christian  circuit,  which  crossed 
the  Tennessee  state  line,  and  lay  partly  in  Tennessee, 
and  partly  in  Kentucky,  in  one  of  my  exploring 
routes,  hunting  up  new  ground  and  new  appoint- 
ments to  preach  at,  late  one  evening,  in  or  near  the 
Cumberland  river  bottom,  I  called  at  a  gentle- 
man's gate,  and  asked  the  privilege  of  staying  all 
night.  The  gentleman  very  readily  granted  my 
request.  He  was  a  wealthy  fanner,  the  owner  of 
several  slaves.  I  found  a  mild,  good,  easy,  fashiona- 
ble family.  After  supper  several  neighbors  came  in 
to  spend  an  evening  in  social  chat.  Being  a  stranger 
among  them,  I  turned  the  conversation  on  religious 
subjects;  inquired  if  they  had  any  preaching.  I 
soon  found  they  had  very  little  preaching  of  any 
kind.  I  told  the  gentleman  my  business  was  to 
preach  any  where  I  could  get  peaceable  and  orderly 
hearers,  and  asked  him  if  I  might  not  leave  an  ap- 
pointment to  preach  at  his  house.  He  pleasantly 
said,  if  he  had  heard  me  preach  and  liked  my  preach- 
ing, he  could  better  determine  whether  to  grant  me 
the  privilege  to  leave  an  appointment  or  not.  I  told 
him  as  he  had  a  large  family,  black  and  white,  and 
as  there  was  some  five  or  six  visitors  present,  if  he 
had  no  objections,  and  would  call  them  together,  I 
would  preach  to  them,  and  he  could  the  better  judge 
how  he  liked  my  preaching,  and  determine  whether 
I  should  leave  a  future  appointment.  He  agreed  to 
the  proposition,  and  called  all  in.  I  sung  and  prayed, 
took  my  text,  and  preached  to  them  about  an  hour 
as  best  I  could.  The  colored  people  wept;  the  white 
people  wept ;  the  man  of  the  house  wept ;  and  when 


176  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

I  closed,  he  said,  "Do  leave  another  appointment, 
and  come  and  preach  to  us,  for  we  are  sinners,  and 
greatly  need  preaching."  I  left  an  appointment,  but 
before  I  came  round  the  devil  stirred  up  opposition. 
One  man  told  the  gentleman  at  whose  house  I 
preached,  that  if  he  let  the  Methodist  preachers 
preach  at  his  house  it  would  not  be  long  before  they 
would  eat  him  out  of  house  and  home.  He  said  his 
father  had  taken  in  Methodist  preachers,  and  in  a 
few  years  they  ate  him  out,  and  brought  him  to  pov- 
erty; and,  besides,  these  Methodist  preachers  were  a 
very  bad  set  of  men.  Mr.  B.  told  this  man  that  he 
thought  he  could  «stand  it  awhile,  and  if  he  found 
there  was  any  danger  of  being  eaten  out  he  would 
send  us  adrift. 

When  I  came  to  my  appointment  there  was  a  large 
congregation;  the  house  and  porch  were  literally 
crowded.  I  preached  to  them  with  great  freedom, 
and  almost  the  whole  congregation  were  melted  into 
tears.  I  sung,  prayed,  and  went  through  the  con- 
gregation, and  shook  hands  with  a  great  many  of 
them.  When  I  came  to  the  man  of  the  house  he 
wept,  and  fell  on  his  knees,  and  begged  me  to  pray 
for  him.  '  Soon  his  wife  and  children,  and  several 
others,  knelt  by  his  side,  and  cried  aloud  for  mercy. 
It  was  late  at  night  before  our  meeting  closed,  and 
not  till  the  swelling  shouts  of  five  or  six  went  to 
heaven.  *.hat  the  dead  were  alive  and  the  lost  were 
found.  I  opened  the  doors  of  the  Church  for  the  re- 
ception of  members,  and  some  ten  persons  joined,  the 
man  of  the  house,  his  wife,  two  children,  and  two 
servants.  This  was  the  first-fruits  of  a  gracious  re- 
vival, and  a  large  society  in  this  neighborhood;  and 
while  I  lived  in  'hat  country  we  held  a  sacramental 
meeting  at  tliio  flaoe  every  year.  After  the  first 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  177 

sacrament  we  held  there,  brother  B.  rose  and  ad- 
dressed the  large  assembly.  He  said,  "  Some  of  you 
kindly  warned  me  not  to  take  in  these  Methodist 
preachers.  You  said  they  would  eat  me  out  and 
bring  me  to  poverty;  but,  neighbors,  I  have  raised 
more  corn,  more  wheat,  more  hemp,  more  tobacco, 
and  never  lived  as  well  and  plentifully  in  all  my  life. 
[  could  feed  a  regiment  of  Methodist  preachers  all 
the  time,  and  then  get  rich,  for  God  blesses  me  in  my 
basket  and  in  my  store." 

During  this  year,  while  on  this  circuit,  something 
like  the  following  occurred :  An  Englishman,  a  Wes- 
leyan  Methodist,  moved  into  a  very  wicked  and  high- 
strung  predestinarian  settlement.  He  came  several 
miles  and  made  himself  known.  He  invited  me  to 
preach  at  his  house.  I  told  him  the  people  were  so  prej- 
udiced against  the  Methodists  that  we  could  not  get 
them  out  to  hear  on  a  week-day ;  but  he  insisted,  and  1 
gave  him  an  appointment.  When  I  came  there  were 
only  five  besides  the  family.  I  preached ;  two  of  the 
little  company  wept.  I  left  another  appointment.  For 
several  times  that  I  preached  to  them,  my  congre- 
gation increased,  and  were  orderly  and  somewhat 
affected.  At  length  the  Englishman,  being  wealthy, 
told  me  he  was  going  to  build  a  church.  I  tried  to 
dissuade  him  from  it.  I  told  him  he  could  get  no 
help  to  build;  that  there  was  no  society,  and  not 
much  probability  that  there  would  ever  be  a  Meth- 
odist society  there;  but,  he  said,  he  thought  a  man 
lived  to  very  little  purpose  in  this  world,  if  he  did 
not  live  so  as  to  leave  his  mark,  that  would  tell  when 
he  was  dead  and  gone.  "  Now,"  said  he,  if  you  will 
promise  me  that  you  will  hold  a  protracted  meeting, 
and  give  us  a  sacrament,  and  get  some  help,  and  come 
aii'l  dedicate  the  church,  it  shall  be  up  and  finished 
12 


178  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

in  eight  or  ten  weeks."  I  tokl  him  I  would  do  so,  if 
spared;  in  the  mean  time,  while  the  church  was  in 
process  of  building,  we  had  two  or  three  conversions 
at  our  little  meetings.  The  church  being  finished,  I 
got  the  help  needed,  appointed  a  protracted  sacra- 
mental meeting  to  dedicate  the  church,  and  invited 
people  far  and  near  to  attend;  and  it  being  a  new 
thing  in  the  settlement,  when  the  day  came  there  was 
a  very  large  concourse  of  people.  The  first  sermon 
on  Saturday  was  attended  with  great  power;  that 
night  there  were  several  mourners  and  two  sound 
conversions.  On  Sunday,  under  the  sermon  of  dedi- 
cation, the  word  was  attended  with  great  power; 
many  fell  under  the  mighty  power  of  God.  Our 
meeting  lasted  all  that  day  and  night,  with  very  little 
intermission,  and  about  twenty  were  converted. 

Our  meeting  continued  several  days  and  nights; 
many  were  the  happy  conversions  to  God,  and  forty 
joined  the  Church.  My  Englishman  was  so  happy, 
he  hardly  knew  Avhether  he  was  in  the  body  or  out  of 
it.  Methodism  was  firmly  planted  here.  Long  since 
my  English  brother  died  in  great  peace,  and  rests  in 
heaven  from  his  labors,  and  his  works  do  follow  him; 
but  surely  he -made  his  "mark,"  and  it  will  be  owned 
in  heaven. 

From  the  earliest  of  my  recollection,  up  to  this 
time,  1816,  there  were  scarcely  any  books  of  any  kind 
in  this  now  mighty  west;  but  especially  was  there  a 
great  scarcity  of  Bibles  and  Testaments.  We  were 
young  and  poor  as  a  nation;  had  but  a  few  years 
gained  our  liberty;  had  hardly  begun  to  live  as 
a  republic  after  a  bloody  and  devastating  war 
for  our  independence;  and  although  Congress,  the 
very  first  year  after  the  declaration  of  our  independ- 
ence, had  wisely  taken  steps  for  furnishing  the  strug- 


PETE  11    C  A  K  T  \V  11 1  0  11  T  .  179 

ghng  infant  for  independence  with  the  word  of  God, 
and  did  order  that  precious  book,  yet  there  was  a 
great  lack  of  the  Bible,  especially  in  the  wilderness 
of  the  west;  but  this  year  the  Lord  put  it  into  the 
hearts  of  some  of  his  people  to  organize  a  Bible  So- 
ciety, which  was  done  on  the  llth  of  May,  1816;  and 
although  at  first  it  was  a  feeble  concern,  yet  God  has 
prospered  it,  and  millions  upon  millions  of  this  pre- 
cious book  have  been  printed  and  circulated,  and  it 
is  pouring  streams  of  light,  life,  and  knowledge  upon 
almost  every  nation  of  this  sin-stricken  world.  The 
man  of  sin  has  quailed  before  it;  the  false  religion 
of  the  God-dishonoring  prophet  is  tottering  before  its 
mighty  truths ;  the  dying  idolatrous  pagan  millions 
are  receiving  its  soul-converting  truths,  and  we  hope 
for  its  universal  spread  till  every  crowned  head  shall 
be  brought  down  to  the  dust,  every  oppressive  yoke 
broken,  universal  civil  and  religious  liberty  enjoyed 
by  our  fallen  race,  and  the  benefits  of  the  redeeming 
stream  be  enjoyed  by  all  mankind. 

Nothing  but  the  principles  of  the  Bible  can  save 
our  happy  nation  or  the  world,  and  every  friend  of 
religion  ought  to  spread  the  Bible  to  the  utmost  of 
his  power  and  means.  Then  let  us  look  for  the  happy 
end  of  the  universal  spread  of  truth,  when  all  flesh 
shall  see  the  salvation  of  God. 


180  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 


CHAPTER  XV. 

EARTH QUAKE  IN  THE  SOUTH. 

THE  conference  was  held  in  Franklin,  Tennessee, 
October  30,  1817.  I  was  appointed  to  travel  on 
the  Christian  circuit,  Green  River  district,  James 
Axley  presiding  elder.  Our  increase  this  year  was 
5,163  members,  and  7  preachers,  in  the  four  confer-' 
cnces.  In  the  winter  of  1812  we  had  a  very  severe 
earthquake  ;  it  seemed  to  stop  the  current  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, broke  flat-boats  loose  from  their  moorings, 
and  opened  large  cracks  or  fissures  in  the  earth.  This 
earthquake  struck  terror  to  thousands  of  people,  and 
under  the  mighty  panic  hundreds  and  thousands 
crowded  to,  and  joined  the  different  Churches.  There 
were  many  very  interesting  incidents  connected  with 
the  shaking  of  the  earth  at  this  time;  two  I  will  name. 
I  had  preached  in  Nashville  the  night  before  the  second 
dreadful  shock  came,  to  a  large  congregation.  Early 
the  next  morning  I  arose  and  walked  out  on  the  hill 
near  the  house  where  I  had  preached,  when  I  saw  a 
negro  woman  coming  down  the  hill  to  the  spring,  with 
an  empty  pail  on  her  head.  (It  is  very  common  for 
negroes  to  carry  water  this  way  without  touching  the 
pail  with  either  hand.)  When  she  got  within  a  few 
rods  of  where  I  stood  the  earth  began  to  tremble  and 
jar;  chimneys  were  thrown  down,  scaffolding  around 
many  new  buildings  fell  with  a  loud  crash,  hundreds 
of  the  citizens  suddenly  awoke,  and  sprang  into  the 
streets ;  loud  screaming  followed,  for  many  thought 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  181 

the  day  of  judgment  was  come.  The  young  mistresses 
of  the  above-named  negro  woman  came  running  after 
her,  and  begging  her  to  pray  for  them.  She  raised  the 
shout  and  said  to  them,  "  My  Jesus  is  coming  in  the 
clouds  of  heaven,  and  I  can't  wait  to  pray  for  you 
now ;  I  must  go  and  meet  him.  I  told  you  so,  that  he 
would  come,  and  you  would  not  believe  me.  Farewell. 
Halleluiah !  Jesus  is  coming,  and  I  am  ready.  Halle- 
luiah !  Amen."  And  on  she  went,  shouting  and  clap 
ping  her  hands,  with  the  empty  pail  on  her  head. 

Near  Russellville,  Logan  county,  Kentucky,  lived 
old  brother  Valentine  Cook,  of  very  precious  memory. 
with  his  wife  Tabitha.  Brother  Cook  was  a  graduate 
at  Cokesbury  College  at  an  early  day  in  the  history  of 
Methodism  in  these  United  States.  He  was  a  very 
pious,  successful  pioneer  preacher,  but,  for  the  want 
of  a  sufficient  support  for  a  rising  and  rapidly-increas- 
ing family,  he  had  located,  and  was  teaching  school  at 
the  time  of  the  above-named  earthquake.  He  and 
wife  were  in  bed  when  the  earth  began  to  shake  and 
tremble.  He  sprang  out  of  bed,  threw  open  the  door, 
and  began  to  shout,  and  started,  with  nothing  on  but 
his  night-clothes.  He  steered  his  course  east,  shouting 
every  step,  saying,  "  My  Jesus  is  coming."  His  wife 
took  after  him,  and  at  the  top  of  her  voice  cried  out, 
"0  Mr.  Cook,  do  n't  leave  me." 

"  O  Tabby,"  said  he,  "  my  Jesus  is  coming,  and  I 
can  not  wait  for  you ;"  and  on  he  went,  shouting  every 
jump,  "My  Jesus  is  coming;  I  can't  wait  for  you, 
Tabby." 

The  years  of  the  excitement  by  these  earthquakes 
hundreds  joined  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and 
though  many  were  sincere,  and  stood  firm,  yet  there 
were  hundreds  that  no  doubt  had  joined  from  mere 
flight.  My  predecessors  had  for  several  years  held 


182  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

the  reins  of  discipline  with  a  very  loose  hand,  and 
when  Bishop  M'Kendrce  told  me  privately  he  wished 
me  to  go  to  the  Red  River  circuit  at  the  conference 
of  1817,  my  heart  was  troubled  within  me,  for  I  knew 
the  state  of  the  circuit.  There  were  many  wealthy, 
fashionable  families  in  the  Church ;  slavery  abounded 
in  it,  and  the  members  had  been  allowed  to  buy  and 
sell  without  being  dealt  with ;  moreover,  these  were 
the  days  of  common,  fashionable  dram- drinking,  before 
the  great  temperance  reformation  was  started ;  and  ex- 
travagant dressing  was  the  unrestrained  order  of  the 
day;  and  there  were  about  twenty  talented  local 
preachers  in  the  circuit,  many  of  them  participator* 
in  these  evils,  and  I  dreaded  the  war  that  must  follow. 
Under  this  conviction  I  begged  Bishop  M'Kendree 
not  to  send  me  there.  He  very  gravely  replied :  "  There 
arc  many  members  in  that  circuit  that  may  be  saved 
by  a  firm,  judicious  exercise  of  discipline,  that  other- 
wise will  be  lost,  arid  I  wish  you  to  go  and  do  for 
them  the  best  you  can." 

"Enough  said,"  replied  I;  "I'll  go." 

At  the  upper  end  of  the  circuit,  not  more  than 
eight  or  nine  miles  from  Nashville,  there  was  a  large 
society  and  a  meeting-house.  My  predecessor  had 
left  a  conditional  appointment  for  his  successor.  I 
was  a  total  stranger  in  this  region.  The  day  of  my 
conditional  appointment  was  a  dark  day,  misting 
with  rain,  but  I  got  there  in  due  time.  After  waiting 
till  half-past  tAvelve  o'clock  one  man  came,  who  had 
had  the  misfortune  to  lose  one  of  his  eyes.  We  sat 
a  little  while,  and  I  asked  him  if  there  was  not  an 
appointment  for  preaching  that  day. 

"Yes,"  said  he;  "but  there  will  be  no  preacher  or 
people,  I  suppose."  I  saw  from  his  answer  he  did  not 
suspect  me  for  the  preacher. 


PETER    CART  IV  U  I  r,  IT  T  .  183 

He  further  said:  "As  it  is  late  ami  no  preacher 
nor  people,  we  had  as  well  go.  Come,  go  home  with 
me  and  get  some  dinner." 

"No,"  said  I,  "we  must  have  meeting;  and  if  you 
will  preach,  I  will  conclude  after  you." 

"No,  no,"  said  he;  "if  you  will  preach,  I  will  con- 
clude after  you." 

"Agreed,"  said  I,  and  up  I  rose  in  the  stand,  sung 
and  prayed,  took  my  text,  and  preached  as  best  1 
could  for  forty-five  minutes,  and  then  called  on  him, 
and  he  rose,  sung  and  prayed,  and  prayed  well. 

I  went  home  with  my  one  man,  my  entire  congre- 
gation, and  found  him  to  be  a  pious,  religious  elder 
in  the  Presbyterian  Church.  From  the  novelty  of  the 
effort  of  the  day,  my  friend  professed  to  think  it  was 
one  of  the  greatest  sermons  he  had  ever  heard  in  all 
his  life. 

I  left  another  appointment,  and  went  on  my  way 
round  the  circuit.  For  weeks  my  one-man  congrega- 
tion proclaimed  and  circulated  my  next  appointment, 
telling  the  people  what  a  great  preacher  had  come  to 
the  circuit;  and  when  I  came  to  my  next  appoint- 
ment, the  whole  hill-side  was  covered  with  horses  and 
carriages,  and  the  church  crowded  to  overflowing. 
My  heart  almost  fainted  within  me  for  fear  I  should 
not  meet  the  expectations  of  the  people;  but  the  Lord 
helped  me,  and  we  had  a  mighty  shaking  among  the 
dry  bones,  and  a  blessed  revival  broke  out.  Our 
meeting  lasted  several  days  and  nights,  and  many 
souls  were  happily  converted  to  God  and  joined  the 
Church  on  my  first  round  on  this  circuit. 

When  I  got  to  the  lower  end  of  the  circuit  I  found  a 
large  society,  a  fine  class  leader,  and  a  very  pious,  old, 
superannuated  traveling  preacher.  He  told  me  the 
society  was  in  a  most  wretched  condition;  that  there 


184  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

was  .1  very  popular  local  preacher  in  the*  society,  wh<, 
married  a  great  many  people,  and  was  in  the  habit 
of  drinking  too  much  at  almost  every  wedding  he  at 
tended;  and  that  he  had  a  large  connection,  all  in  the 
Church,  and  that  for  years  the  preachers  were  afraid 
o  do  any  thing  with  him. 

The  next  day,  which  was  Sabbath,  we  had  a  hirge 
congregation,  and  after  prenching,  as  my  uniform  cus- 
tom was,  I  met  the  class.  My  popular  local  prcachei 
was  present.  In  examining  the  leader  of  the  class  I, 
among  many  other  questions,  asked  him  if  he  drank 
drams.  He  promptly  answered  me,  No,  he  did  not. 

"Brother,"  said  I,  "why  do  you  not?"  He  hesi- 
tated; but  I  insisted  that  he  should  tell  the  reason 
why  he  did  not. 

"Well,  brother,"  said  he,  "if  I  must  tell  the  reason 
why  I  do  not  drink  drams,  it  is  because  I  think  it  is 
wrong  to  do  so." 

"That's  right,  brother,"  said  I;  "speak  it  out,  for 
it  is  altogether  wrong  for  a  Christian ;  and  a  class- 
leader  should  set  a  better  example  to  the  class  he 
leads,  and  to  all  others." 

When  I  came  to  the  local  preacher  I  said,  "  Brother 
W.,  do  you  drink  drams?" 

"Yes,"  said  he. 

"What  is  your  particular  reason  for  drinking 
drams?"  I  asked  him. 

"  Because  it  makes  me  feel  well,"  he  answered. 

"  You  drink  till  you  feel  it,  do  you  ?''  said  I. 

"  Certainly,"  said  he* 

"Well,  how. much  do  you  drink  at  a  time?" 

He  replied,  gruffly,  that  he  never  measured  it. 

"Brother,  how  often  do  you  drink  in  a  day?" 

"  Just  when  I  feel  like  it,  if  I  can  get  it." 

"Well,   brother,   there   are   complaints    that   you 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  185 

drink  too  often  and  too  much ;  and  the  Saturday  be- 
fore my  next  appointment  here  you  must  meet  a 
committee  of  local  preachers  at  ten  o'clock,  to  inves- 
tigate this  matter;  therefore  prepare  yourself  for 
trial." 

"0!"  said  he,  "if  you  are  for  that  sort  of  play, 
come  on ;  I  '11  be  ready  for  you." 

I  had  hard  work  to  get  a  committee  that  were  not 
dram-drinkers  themselves.  The  trial  came  on;  the 
class-leader  brought  evidence  that  the  local  preacher 
had  been  intoxicated  often,  and  really  drunk  several 
times.  The  committee  found  him  guilty  of  immoral 
conduct,  and  suspended  him  till  the  next  quarterly 
meeting;  and  then  the  quarterly  meeting,  after  hard 
debate,  expelled  him.  The  whole  society  nearly  were 
present. 

After  this  expulsion,  and  I  had  read  him  out,  his 
wife  and  children,  and  connections,  and  one  or  two 
friends,  to  the  number  of  thirteen,  rose  up  and  with- 
drew from  the  society.  I  told  the  society  if  there  was 
any  tiling  against  their  moral  character,  they  could 
not  withdraw  without  an  investigation;  but  if  there 
•tvas  nothing  against  their  moral  character,  they  could 
withdraw.  The  leader  said  there  was  nothing  im- 
moral against  them,  so  I  laid  down  the  gap  and  let 
them  out  of  the  Church.  They  then  demanded  a 
letter.  I  told  them  there  was  no  rule  by  which  they 
li:i'l  a  right  to  a  letter,  unless  they  were  going  to  move 
and  join  some  other  society  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church.  They  said  they  never  intended  to  join 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  again.  I  then  told 
them  that  they  came  to  us  without  a  letter,  and  must 
go  without  a  letter.  I  then  read  the  rules;  exhorted 
the  leader  to  be  punctual,  faithful,  and  pic  us;  the 
members  I  urged  to  attend  all  the  public  and  private 
16 


186  AUTOBIOGRAPHY. OF 

means  of  grace,  especially  class  meetings,  love-feists, 
and  the  sacraments,  and  to  bring  and  dedicate  their 
children  to  God,  by  having  them  baptized. 

From  this  very  day  the  work  of  religion  broke  ou 
in  the  society  an-i  settlement,  and  before  the  year 
closed  I  took  back  the  thirteen  that  withdrew,  and 
about  forty  more  joined  the  Church,  and  not  a  dram- 
drinker  in  the  whole  society,  but  the  poor  local 
preacher  who  had  been  expelled,  I  fear  lived  and 
died  a  drunkard. 

This  was  a  four  weeks'  circuit,  and  I  had  no  help- 
ers; and  on  examination  of  the  class  papers  I  found 
over  one  hundred  and  fifty  delinquent  members; 
some,  yea,  many  of  them  had  not  been  in  a  class 
meeting  for  one,  two,  and  three  years.  I  determined, 
with  a  mild  and  firm  hand,  to  pull  the  reins  of  our 
Discipline,  and  by  the  aid  of  the  leaders,  and  by  my 
personally  visiting  the  delinquents,  we  managed  to 
see  every  one  of  them,  and  talk  to  them. 

Through  the  blessing  of  God  upon  our  labors,  we 
saved  to  the  Church  about  sixty  of  them ;  the  others 
we  dropped,  laid  aside,  or  expelled.  This  was  awful 
work,  to  turn  out  or  drop  ninety  persons  in  about  nine 
months;  it  bowed  me-  down  in  spirit  greatly;  it 
looked  like  as  if  a  tornado  had  fearfully  swept  over 
the  Church;  hut  there  was  a  stop  put  to  trading  in 
slaves,  and  the  dram-drinkers  became  very  few,  and 
many  threw  off  their  jewelry  and  superfluous  dress- 
ing; prayer  meetings  sprung  up,  class  meetings  were 
generally  attended,  our  congregations  increased,  our 
fusts  were  kept.  Toward  the  last  quarter  of  the  yeai 
I  beat  up  for  a  general  camp  meeting,  and  there  was 
a  general  rally.  We  had  a  large  camp-ground,  seats 
for  thousands  prepared,  a  large  shed  built  over  the 
altar  and  pulpit  that  would  shelter  more  than  a  thou- 


1  E  T.  E  R    C  A  R  T  W  R  I  G  II  T .'  187 

savi  pco}>lc.  The  square  of  our  camp-ground  was 
wel\  tilled.  The  camp  meeting  lasted  eight  days  and 
niglus;  the  preachers  preached,  the  power  of  God 
attended,  sinners  by  the  score  fell ;  the  altar,  though 
very  large,  was  filled  to  overflowing ;  and  while  many 
managed  and  labored  in  the  altar  with  mourners,  we 
erected  another  stand  at  the  opposite  end  of  the  en- 
campment, and  there  the  faithful  minister  proclaimed 
the  word  of  life.  The  power  of  God  came  there  as 
the  sound  of  a  mighty,  rushing  wind ;  and  such  was 
the  effect,  that  crowds  of  mourners  came  forward  and 
kneeled  at  the  benches  prepared,  and,  indeed,  the 
work  spread  all  over  the  encampment  and  almost  in 
every  tent.  There  were  two  hundred  and  fifty  who 
professed  religion,  and  one  hundred  and  seventy 
joined  the  Church,  besides  about  forty  colored  people. 
Glory  to  God !  Zion  travailed,  and  brought  forth 
many  sous  and  daughters  to  God. 

Many  of  these  converts  and  accessions  to  the  Church 
•were  from  different  and  distant  circuits  around ;  for 
people  in  those  days  thought  no  hardship  of  going 
many  miles  to  a  camp  meeting.  I  was  continued  two 
years  on  this  circuit;  the  first  year  J.  Axley,  pre- 
siding elder;  the  second  year  M.  Lindsey  was  my 
presiding  elder.  There  were  many  interesting  inci- 
dents that  occurred  during  my  stay  on  this  circuit. 
A  few  I  will  name. 

At  Mount  Zion  meeting-house  there  was  a  good 
class  of  poor,  simple-hearted  Methodists  that  desired 
to  hold  class  meeting,  according  to  rule,  with  closed 
doors,  admitting  persons  not  members  of  the  Church 
only  two  or  three  times,  unless  they  intended  to  join. 
There  was  an  old  lady  in  the  settlement,  a  New  Light 
by  profession,  who  hated  the  Methodists  and  despised 
class  meetings  with  closed  doors,  but  would  stay  in,  m 


188  "AUTOBIOGRALMIYOP  * 

spite  of  the  leader.  She  would  take  her  seat  ncai 
the  door,  and  open  it  while  the  leader  was  speaking 
to  the  class.  They  had  tried  to  stop  her  many  ways, 
but  did  not  succeed.  When  I  came  round,  the  leader 
complained  to  me,  alleging  that  they  were  greatly 
annoyed  by  her  disorderly  conduct.  I  preached, 
then  read  the  rules,  then  requested  all  to  retire  but 
the  class,  or  such  as  desired  to  join  the  Church,  and 
then  closed  the  door,  and  proceeded  to  examine  the 
class.  I  knew  this  lady  was  in,  and  sat  near  the  door 
as  usual.  I  asked  the  leader  if  there  were  any  in  but 
members.  He  answered,  "  Yes,  there  are  three  that 
are  not  members."  I  told  him  to  take  me  to  them 
first.  He  did  so.  The  first  was  a  man.  I  asked  him 
his  intention  in  staying  in  class  meeting.  He  told 
me  he  wanted  to  serve  God,  and  join  the  Church. 
"  Very  well,"  said  I.  The  next  was  a  woman,  whom 
I  questioned,  and  who  answered  in  the  same  way. 
While  I  was  talking  to  her,  my  New  Light  got  up 
and  opened  the  door,  and  took  her  seat  close  by  it. 
I  approached  her,  and  asked  her  what  was  her  motive 
for  staying  in  class  meeting. 

She  said  she  wanted  to  be  with  the  people  of 
God. 

"  Do  you  wish  to  join  our  Church?" 

"  No,  I  do  n't  like  the  Methodists." 

"  Madam,  you  ought  not  to  violate  our  rules." 

"  Indeed,  I  do  not  care  a  fig  for  your  rules ;  I  have 
staid  in  class  meetings  many  times,  and  will  stay  in 
when  I  please." 

"  You  must  go  out." 

"  I  will  not,  sir." 

"  Then  I  will  put  you  out.' 

"  You  can't  do  it,"  she  replied,  and  sprung  to  her 
feet,  and  began  to  shout  and  clap  her  hands;  and  as 


%  PETER   CART  WRIGHT.  189 

she  faced  to  the  door,  I  took  hold  of  her  arms  behind 
her  shoulders,  and  moved  her  toward  the  door.  She 
threw  up  her  hands  against  the  cheek  of  the  door, 
and  prevented  me  from  putting  her  out.  I  saw  a 
scuffle  was  to  take  place,  and  stooped  down  and  gath 
ered  her  in  my  right  arm,  and  with  my  left  hand 
jerked  her  hand  from  the  cheek  of  the  door,  and  lifted 
her  up,  and  stepped  out  and  set  her  on  her  feet.  The 
moment  I  sat  her  down  she  began  to  jump  and  shout, 
saying,  "  You  can't  shut  me  out  of  heaven."  I  sternly 
ordered  her  to  quit  shouting;  for,  said  I,  you  are  not 
happy  at  all,  you  only  shout  because  you  are  mad 
and  the  devil  is  in  you.  When  she  quit  shouting, 
I  said,  u  I  knew  you  were  not  happy,  for  if  God 
had  made  you  happy  I  could  not  have  stopped 
it ;  but  as  it  was  the  devil  in  you,  I  have  soon 
stopped  your  shouting."  I  then  stepped  back  and 
shut  the  door,  and  met  my  class  standing  against 
it;  and  we  had  a  very  good  time,  and  effectually 
foiled  our  old  New  Light  tormentor,  and  she  never 
troubled  me  any  more  during  my  two  years  on  this 
circuit. 

The  Tennessee  conference  sat  in  Nashville,  Octo- 
ber 1,  1818,  when  I  was  reappointed  to  Red  River. 
Our  increase  this  year,  in  the  four  western  con- 
ferences, was  five  thousand,  one  hundred  and  sixty- 
four.  Our  increase  of  traveling  preachers  was  only 
nine. 

At  the  Nashville  conference  an  incident  occur- 
red substantially,  as  well  as  my  memory  serves 
me,  as  follows:  The  preacher  in  charge  had  risen 
from  very  humble  beginnings,  but  was  now  a 
popular,  fashionable  preacher.  We  talk  about 
"Young  America"  these  times;  but  Young  America 
was  as  distinctly  to  be  seen  in  those  days,  among 


I'JU  A  U  T  0  B  i  0  U  11 A  1'  11  V    0  P  ^ 

our  young  flippant,  popularity-suuli'mg  preachers,  as 
no\v. 

Brother  Axley  and  myself,  though  not  very  old, 
were  called  old-fashioned  fellows  ;  and  this  popular 
young  aspirant  was  afraid  to  appoint  brother  Axley  or 
myself  to  preach  at  any  popular  hour  for  fear  we  would 
break  on  slavery,  dress,  or  dram-drinking.  But  at 
length  the  old  staid  members  and  the  young  preach- 
ers began  to  complain  that  Axley  and  Cartwright 
were  slighted,  and  an  under-current  of  murmuring  be- 
came pretty  general.  The  city  preacher  had  been 
selected  to  appoint  the  time  and  place  where  we 
were  to  preach.  Brother  Axley  and  myself  had  our 
own  amusement.  At  length,  on  Saturday  of  the 
conference,  this  preacher  announced  that  brother 
Axley  would  preach  in  the  Methodist  church  on  Sun- 
day morning  at  sunrise,  thinking  there  would  be  but 
few  out,  and  that  he  could  do  but  little  harm  at  that 
early  hour. 

AVheri  we  adjourned  on  Saturday  afternoon,  I  ral- 
lied the  bovs  to  spread  the  appointment ;  to  rise  early 
and  get  all  out  they  could.  The  appointment  circu- 
lated like  wildfire,  and  sure  enough,  at  sunrise  the 
church  was  well  filled.  Brother  Axley  rose,  sung, 
prayed,  took  his  text:  "Be  riot  conformed  to  this  world, 
but  be  ye  transformed  by  the  renewing  of  your  minds ;" 
and  if  the  Lord  ever  helped  mortal  man  to  preach,  he 
surely  helped  brother  Axley.  First  he  poured  the  thun- 
ders of  Sinai  against  the  Egyptians,  or  slave  oppress- 
ors; next  he  showed  that  no  moderate  dram-drinker 
could  enter  heaven;  and  then  the  grape-shot  of  truth 
rolled  from  his  mouth  against  rings,  ruffles,  and  all  kind 
of  ornamental  dress.  Dr.  Bascom  was  sitting  right  be- 
fore him.  He  had  a  gold  watch-chain  and  key,  and  two 
very  large  gold  seals.  The  llev.  II.  B.  was  sc  excited 


PETER    U  ART  WRIGHT.  193 

that  unconsciously  he  took  up  one  of  the  souls,  and  he 
began  to  play  with  the  other  seal  with  his  right  hand. 
Axley  saw  it,  stopped  suddenly,  and  very  sternly  said 
to  him,  "Put  up  that  chain,  and  quit  playing  with 
those  seals,  and  hear  the  word  of  the  Lord."'  The 
claret  rushed  to  the  surface  of  his  profile. 

The  sermon  went  off  admirably,  and  really  it  seem- 
ed as  though  a  tornado  had  swept  the  ruffles  and 
vails;  and  the  old  members  of  the  Church  shouted 
for  joy.  Having  achieved  another  signal  victory 
over  error  and  pride,  the  ministers  and  ruling  elders 
of  other  sister  Churches  had  opened  their  pulpits,  and 
invited  us  to  preach  to  their  people  during  conference. 
Among  the  rest,  Dr.  Blackbourn  had  opened  hia 
Church.  Dr.  Blackbourn  was  a  strong,  popular  Pres- 
byterian minister. 

In  the  course  of  the  Sabbath,  the  city  preacher  in- 
formed me  that  I  was  to  preach  on  Monday  evening 
in  Dr.  Blackbourn's  Church,  and  charged  me  to  be 
sure  and  behave  myself.  I  made  him  my  best  bow, 
and  thanked  him  that  he  had  given  me  any  appoint- 
ment at  all ;  and  I  assured  him  I  would  certainly  behave 
myself  the  best  I  could.  "And  now,"  said  I,  "  brother 
Mac,  it  really  seems  providential  that  you  have  ap- 
pointed me  to  preach  in  the  Doctor's  Church,  for  1 
expect  they  never  heard  Methodist  doctrine  fairly 
stated,  and  the  dogmas  of  Calvinism  exposed  ;  and 
now,  sir,  they  shall  hear  the  truth  for  once."  Said  the 
preacher,  "You  must  not  preach  controversy."  I  re- 
plied, "  If  I  live  to  preach  there  at  all,  I  '11  give  Calvin- 
ism one  riddling."  "Well,"  said  the  preacher,  "I 
recall  the  appointment,  and  will  send  another  preach- 
er there;  and  you  must  preach  in  the  Methodist 
church  Monday  evening,  and  do  try  and  behave  your- 
self." "Very  well,"  said  I;  "I  '11  do  my  best." 


192  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

The  preacher's  conduct  toward  me  was  spread 
abroad,  and  excited  considerable  curiosity.  Monday 
evening  came;  the  church  was  filled  to  overflowing; 
every  seat  was  crowded,  and  many  had  to  stand.  Af- 
ter singing  and  prayer,  brother  Mac  took  his  seat  in 
the  pulpit.  I  then  read  my  text :  "  What  shall  it  prof- 
it a  man  if  he  gain  the  whole  world  and  lose  his  OA\n 
soul  ?"  After  reading  my  text  I  paused.  At  that  mo 
ment  I  saw  General  Jackson  walking  up  the  aisle ;  he 
came  to  the  middle  post,  and  very  gracefully  leaned 
against  it,  and  stood,  as  there  were  no  vacant  seats. 
Just  then  I  felt  some  one  pull  rny  coat  in  the  stand, 
and  turning  my  head,  my  fastidious  preacher  whisper- 
ing a  little  loud,  said:  "General  Jackson  has  come 
in;  General  Jackson  has  come  in."  I  felt  a  flash  of 
indignation  run  all  over  me  like  an  electric  shock, 
and  facing  about  to  my  congregation,  and  purposely 
speaking  out  audibly,  I  said,  "  Who  is  General  Jack 
son?  If  he  don't  get  his  soul  converted,  God  will 
damn  him  as  quick  as  he  would  a  Guinea  negro  !" 

The  preacher  tucked  his  head  down,  and  squatted 
low,  and  would,  no  doubt,  have  been  thankful  for  leave 
of  absence.  The  congregation,  General  Jackson  and 
all,  smiled  or  laughed  right  out,  all  at  the  preacher's 
expense.  When  the  congregation  was  dismissed,  my 
city-stationed  preacher  stepped  up  to  me,  and  very 
sternly  said  to  me :  "  You  are  the  strangest  man  I  ever 
saw,  and  General  Jackson  will  chastise  you  for  your 
insolence  before  you  leave  the  city."  "  Very  clear  of 
it,"  said  I,  "for  General  Jackson,  I  have  no  doubt,  will 
applaud  my  course;  and  if  he  should  undertake  to 
chastise  me,  as  Paddy  said,  '  There  is  two  as  can  play 
ftt  that  game.'  " 

General  Jackson  was  staying  at  one  of  the  Nashville 
hotels.  Next  morning,  very  early,  my  city  preacher 


PETEH    CARTWRianT.  193 

went  down  to  the  hotel  to  make  an  apology  to  Gen- 
eral Jackson  for  my  conduct  in  the  pulpit  the  night 
before.  Shortly  after  he  had  left  I  passed  by  the 
hotel,  and  I  met  the  General  on  the  pavement;  and 
before  I  approached  him  by  several  steps  he  smiled, 
and  reached  out  his  hand  and  said : 

"Mr.  Cartwright,  you  are  a  man  after  my  own 
heart.  I  am  very  much  surprised  at  Mr.  Mac,  to 
think  he  would  suppose  that  I  would  be  offended  at 
you.  No,  sir;  I  told  him  that  I  highly  approved  of 
your  independence;  that  a  minister  of  Jesus  Christ 
ought  to  love  every  body  and  fear  no  mortal  man. 
I  told  Mr.  Mac  that  if  I  had  a  few  thousand  'such 
independent,  fearless  officers  as  you  were,  and  a  well- 
drilled  army,  I  could  take  old  England." 

General  Jackson  was  certainly  a  very  extraordi- 
nary man.  He  was,  no  doubt,  in  his  prime  of  life,  a 
very  wicked  man,  but  he  always  showed  a  great 
respect  for  the  Christian  religion,  and  the  feelings  of 
religious  people,  especially  ministers  of  the  Gospel. 
I  will  here  relate  a  little  incident  that  shows  his  re- 
spect for  religion. 

I  had  preached  one  Sabbath  near  the  Hermitage, 
and,  in  company  with  several  gentlemen  and  ladies, 
went,  by  special  invitation,  to  dine  with  the  General. 
Among  this  company  there  was  a  young  sprig  of  a 
lawyer  from  Nashville,  of  very  ordinary  intellect, 
and  he  was  trying  hard  to  make  an  infidel  of  himself. 
As  I  was  the  only  preacher  present,  this  young 
lawyer  kept  pushing  his  conversation  on  me,  in  order 
to  get  into  an  argument.  I  tried  to  evade  an  argu- 
ment, in  the  first  place  considering  it  a  breach  of 
good  manners  to  interrupt  the  social  conversation  of 
the  company.  In  the  second  place  I  plainly  saw 
that  his  head  was  much  softer  than  his  heart,  and 
13 


194  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

that  there  were  no  laurels  to  be  won  by  vanquishing 
or  demolishing  such  a  eombatant,  and  I  persisted  in 
evading  an  argument.  This  seemed  to  inspire  the 
young  man  with  more  confidence  in  himself;  for  my 
evasiveness  he  construed  into  fear.  I  saw  General 
Jackson's  eye  strike  fire,  as  he  sat  by  and  heard  the 
thrusts  he  made  at  the  Christian  religion.  At  length 
the  young  lawyer  asked  me  this  question : 

"  Mr.  Cartwright,  do  you  really  believe  there  is 
any  such  place  as  hell,  as  a  place  of  torment?" 

I  answered  promptly,  "  Yes,  I  do*." 

To  which  he  responded,  "Well,  I  thank  God  I 
have  too  much  good  sense  to  believe  any  such 
thing." 

I  was  pondering  in  my  own  mind  whether  I  would 
answer  him  or  not,  when  General  Jackson  for  the 
first  time  broke  into  the  conversation,  and  directing 
his  words  to  the  young  man,  said  with  great  earnest- 
ness: 

"  Well,  sir,  I  thank  God  that  there  is  such  a  place 
of  torment  as  hell." 

This  sudden  answer,  made  with  great  earnest- 
ness, seemed  to  astonish  the  youngster,  and  he  ex- 
claimed; 

"Why,  General  Jackson,  what  do  you  want  with 
such  a  place  of  torment  as  hell  ?" 

To  which  the  General  replied,  as  quick  as  lightning, 
"  To  put  such  d d  rascals  as  you  are  in,  that  op- 
pose and  vilify  the  Christian  religion." 

I  tell  you  this  was  a  poser.  The  young  lawyer 
was  struck  dumb,  and  presently  was  found  missing. 

In  the  fall  of  1819  our  Tennessee  conference  sat 
again  in  Nashville.  This  year  the  Minutes  show  an 
increase  of  members  in  the  four  western  conferences 
of  5,085;  of  traveling  preaohcrs,  38;  our  whole 


PETER   CARTWRIGH  T.  195 

membership  in  the  west,  56,945;  our  traveling 
preachers,  194.  Our  Tennessee  conference  lay  part- 
ly in  Tennessee  and  partly  in  Kentucky.  In  Ken- 
tucky our  rules  of  Discipline  on  slavery  were  pretty 
generally  enforced,  and  especially  on  our  preachers, 
traveling  and  local  Whenever  a  traveling  preacher 
became  the  owner  of  a  slave  or  slaves,  he  was  re- 
quired to  record  a  bill  of  emancipation,  or  pledge 
himself  to  do  so;  otherwise  he  would  forfeit  his  min- 
isterial office.  And  under  no  circumstances  could  a 
local  preacher  be  ordained  a  deacon  or  an  elder  if  he 
was  a  slaveholder,  unless  he  gave  the  Church  satis- 
factory assurances,  that  he  would  emancipate  at  a 
proper  time.  In  Tennessee  some  of  our  prominent 
preachers  fell  heir  to  slaves.  They  were  unwilling 
to  emancipate  them,  and  they  sought  refuge  in  the 
plea  of  their  disabilities,  according  to  the  law  of  the 
state. 

At  this  conference  I  complained  of  some  of  our 
strong  preachers  living  in  constant  violation  of  the 
Discipline  of  the  Church.  They  tried  to  make  out  a 
fair  excuse,  and  to  show  that  it  was  impracticable, 
according  to  the  laws  of  the  state,  and  I,  in  order  to 
sustain  my  charges  of  violating  the  Discipline  of  the 
Church,  had  to  show  that  they  could  at  any  time 
emancipate  their  slaves  by  becoming  surety  that 
their  negroes,  when  emancipated,  did  not  become  a 
county  charge.  They  employed  a  distinguished 
lawyer,  F.  Grundy,  and  I  went  to  General  Jackson 
for  counsel.  The  case  was  fairly  stated  and  explain- 
ed in  open  conference,  and  these  preachers  were  re- 
quired to  go  to  court  and  record  a  bill  of  emancipation 

When  the  great  southern  secession  took  place  in 
l*44-4o.  Dr.  Bascom  wrote  a  pamphlet,  and  there 
represents  the  circumstance  above  alluded  to  as  » 


196  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

great  abolition  move.  Now  there  is  nothing  more 
foreign  from  the  truth.  Ultra  abolition  was  not  then 
known  among  us  in  the  west;  and  if  it  was,  we  ticver 
meddled  politically  with  slavery,  but  simply  required 
our  preachers  and  members  to  emancipate  their  slaves 
whenever  it  was  practicable,  according  to  the  laws  of 
the  state  in  which  they  lived,  and  which  permitted  the 
liberated  slaves  to  enjoy  freedom. 

The  discussion  on  the  subject  of  slavery  waked  up 
some  bad  feeling,  and  as  we  had  at  this  conference  to 
elect  our  delegates  to  the  General  conference,  which 
was  to  hold  its  session  in  Baltimore  in  May,  1820, 
these  slaveholding  preachers  determined  to  foVm  a 
ticket,  and  exclude  every  one  of  us  who  were  for  the 
Methodist  Discipline  as  it  was,  and  is  to  this  day. 
As  soon  as  ever  we  found  out  their  plan  we  formed 
an  opposite  ticket,  excluding  all  advocates  of  slavery, 
and,  on  the  first  ballot,  we  elected  every  man  on  our 
ticket  save  one,  and  he  was  a  young  preacher  who 
had  only  traveled  six  years.  lie  and  their  strongest 
man  tied  in  the  vote.  Of  cou-rsc,  we  had  to  ballot 
again,  but  on  the  second  ballot  we  elected  our  man 
by  a  large  majority.  This  triumph  made  the  slavery 
party  feel  very  sore.  They  then  went  to  work  and 
wrote  a  very  slanderous  pamphlet,  in  which  they 
misrepresented  us,  and  sent  af  copy  of  it  to  each 
member  of  the  General  conference.  But  they  missed 
their  mark,  for  instead  of  lowering  us  in  the  estima- 
tion of  the  members  of  the  General  conference,  that 
body  approved  our  course  fully. 

It  was  at  this  General  conference  of  1820,  in  Bal- 
timore, that  radicalism  threatened  to  shake  the  foun- 
dations of  the  Church,  but  as  I  have  freely  spoken  of 
these  trying  scenes  to  the  Church  elsewhere  in  this 
sketch,  I  forbear  making  any  further  remarks.  At 


PETER    CARTWRIGIIT.  19t 

this  General  conference,  the  Kentucky  conference 
was  organized,  which  made  five  annual  conferences 
out  of  the  old  Western  conference,  namely: 

1.  Ohio    conference,   composed    of    the    following 
presiding-elder  districts:  Ohio,  Muskingum,  Lancas- 
ter, Scioto,  Lebanon,  and  Miami ;  with  a  membership 
of  thirty-four  thousand,  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
eight,  and  eighty-seven  traveling  preachers. 

2.  Missouri  conference,  with  the  following  districts : 
Indiana,  Illinois,  Cape  Girardeau,  and  Arkansas;  with 
a  membership  of  seven  thousand,  four  hundred  and 
fifty-eight,  and  thirty-nine  traveling  preachers. 

3. 'Kentucky  conference,  with  five  districts:  Kana- 
wha,  Kentucky,  Salt  River,  Green  River,  and  Cum- 
berland; with  a  membership  of  twenty-three  thou- 
sand, seven  hundred  and  twenty-three,  and  eighty 
four  traveling  preachers. 

4.  Tennessee,  composed  of  Nashville,  Tennessee, 
French  Road,  Holston,  and   Duck   River    districts, 
seventeen   thousand,    six   hundred   and    thirty-three 
members,  and  fifty-one  traveling  preachers. 

5.  Mississippi,  with  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  and  Ala- 
bama districts;  four  thousand,  one  hundred  and  forty 
seven  members,  and  nineteen  traveling  preachers. 

Making,  in  1820-21  our  membership,  eighty-seven 
thousand,  one  hundred  and  thirty-nine,  and  our  trav- 
eling preachers  two  hundred  and  eighty.  See  what 
God  has  done  for  our  "far  west."  From  the  time  I 
had  joined  the  traveling  ranks  in  1804  to  1820-21,  a 
period  of  sixteen  years,  from  thirty-two  traveling 
preachers,  we  had  increased  to  two  hundred  and 
eighty;  and  from  eleven  thousand,  eight  hundred  and 
seventy-seven  members,  we  had  now  over  eighty- 
Beven  thousand;  and  there  was  not  a  single  literary 
man  among  those  traveling  preachers. 


198  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

In  the  fall  of  1820  our  conference  sat  in  Hopkina- 
ville,  Kentucky.  I  was  reappointed  to  the  Christian 
circuit,  M.  Lindsey  presiding  elder.  About  this  time, 
owing  to  my  having  reprinted  and  circulated  two 
small  pamphlets,  one  called,  "  The  Dagon  of  Calvin- 
ism," and  the  other,  "  A  Useful  Discovery,"  both  of 
them  satires  on  Calvinism,  some  Presbyterian  cler- 
gymen, judging  me  to  be  the  author  of  these  pam- 
phlets, and  not  being  willing  publicly  to  debate  the 
points  at  issue  between  us,  concluded  to  take  satisfac- 
tion of  me  by  writing  me  a  letter  in  the  name  of  the 
devil,  complimenting  me  for  promoting  the  interests 
of  his  Satanic  majesty's  kingdom,  by  spreading  the 
Arminian  doctrine.  Whereupon  I  wrote  a  rejoinder, 
and  both  these  letters,  the  one  to  me  and  my  answer, 
were  published  in  pamphlet  form,  and  created  a  con- 
siderable buzz  for  a  while.  Those,  clergymen  called 
a  council  in  order  to  answer  me,  but  considering  pru- 
dence the  better  part  of  valor,  realizing  that 

"  He  that  lived  to  run  away, 
Might  live  to  fight  another  day," 

so  they  abandoned  the  project  of  answering  me  alto- 
gether. This  was  regretted  by  many  of  my  friends, 
who  wanted  them  to  speak  out  in  their  own  proper 
names,  and  not  skulk  behind  the  name  of  the  devil 
to  hide  their  errors  or  malice.  A.nd  perhaps  it  was 
best  that  they  did  not  answer  back  again. 


PKTER    CARTWBiaHT.  199 


CHAPTER  XVL 

THE    MOUNTAIN    PREACHER. 

I  WILL  now  relate  an  incident  or  two  that  occur- 
red in  1820-24. 

Old  father  Walker,  of  excellent  memory,  and  my- 
self, set  out  in  the  month  of  April,  1820,  to  the  Gen- 
eral conference,  in  Baltimore,  on  horseback.  We  trav- 
eled hard  all  the  week.  Late  on  Saturday  afternoon 
we  came  to  the  spurs  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains, 
and  were  within  a  few  miles  of  the  toll-gate,  when  a 
gentleman  overtook  us.  We  inquired  of  him  if  he 
knew  of  any  quiet  tavern  on  the  road  near  by,  where 
two  weary  travelers  could  rest  over  Sabbath,  as  we 
did  not  intend  traveling  on  that  day.  He  said  there 
was  no  such  house  on  the  road  for  many  miles ;  but 
if  we  would  turn  off  the  road  a  mile  or  such  a  matter, 
he  could  take  us  to  a  good,  quiet,  religious  family, 
where  we  could  rest  till  Monday  very  comfortably; 
for  he,  being  a  local  preacher,  had  an  appointment 
next  day.  We  thankfully  consented  to  go  with  this 
local  brother,  and  following  him,  we  soon  came  to  a 
poor  but  decent  house  and  family  and  were  made 
very  welcome.  The  brother,  on  learning  that  we 
were  preachers,  insisted  that  we  should  preach  for 
the  people  in  the  morning  and  evening,  to  which  we 
consented. 

At  eleven  o'clock,  brother  Walker  held  forth. 
The  people  were  all  attention,  but  there  was  no  ex- 
citement. At  night  I  tried  to  preach,  and  although 


200  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

I  had  profound  attention  from  a  cabinful  of  these  mount- 
aineers, yet  the  preaching  did  not  seem  to  have  any 
effect  whatever.  When  I  closed,  I  called  on  our 
kind  local  preacher  to  conclude.  He  rose  and  began 
to  sing  a  mountain  song,  and  pat  his  foot,  and  clap 
his  hands,  and  ever  arid  anon  would  shout  at  the  top 
of  his  speech,  "Pray,  brethren."  In  a  few  minutes 
the  whole  house  was  in  an  uproarious  shout.  When 
brother  Walker  and  I  got  a  chance  to  talk,  I  said: 
"Well,  sir,  I  tell  you  this  local  preacher  can  do  more 
in  singing,  clapping,  and  stamping,  than  all  our 
preaching  put  together." 

"Verily,"  said  Walker,  "he  must  be  a  great  man, 
and  these  are  a  great  people  living  here  in  these  poor 
dreary  mountains." 

In  passing  on  our  journey  going  down  the  mount- 
ains, on  Monday,  we  met  several  wagons  and  car- 
riages moving  west.  Shortly  after  we  had  passed 
them,  I  saw  lying  in  the  road  a  very  neat  pocket- 
pistol.  I  picked  it  up,  and  found  it  heavily  loaded 
and  freshly  primed.  Supposing  it  to  have  beer, 
dropped  by  some  of  these  movers,  I  said  to  brother 
Walker,  "  This  looks  providential ;"  for  the  road  across 
these  mountains  was,  at  this  time,  infested  by  many 
robbers,  and  several  daring  murders  and  robberies 
had  lately  been  committed.  Brother  Walker's  horse 
was  a  tolerably  good  one,  but  my  horse  was  a  stout, 
fleet,  superior  animal.  As  we  approached  the  foo 
of  the  mountains,  and  were  about  two  miles  fron 
the  public-house,  where  we  intended  to  lodge  tka 
night,  the  sun  just  declining  behind  the  western 
mountains,  we  overtook  a  man  walking  with  a  large 
stick  as  a  walking  cane,  and  he  appeared  to  be  very 
lame,  and  was  limping  along  at  a  very  slow  rate. 
lie  spoke  to  us,  and  said  he  was  traveling,  and  a 


PETER    CAKTWRIOHT.  201 

poor  cripple,  and  begged  us  to  let  him  ride  a  little 
way,  as  lie  was  nearly  given  out,  and  was  fearful  he 
could  not  reach  the  tavern  that  night. 

Brother  Walker  said,  "  0  yes,"  and  was  in  the  atti- 
tude of  dismounting  and  letting  him  ride  his  horse. 
Just  then  a  thought  struck  me  that  this  fellow's  lame- 
ness was  feigned,  and  that  it  was  not  safe  to  trust 
him.  I  said  to  Walker,  "  Keep  your  horse  ;  we  are  a 
long  way  from  home,  have  a  long  journey  before  us; 
under  such  circumstances,  trust  no  man  ;  and  we  trot- 
ted on  dow/i  the  hill,  and  thought  we  had  left  our 
lame  man  more  than  a  hundred  yards  behind.  Walker 
was  rather  ahead  of  me.  All  at  once  my  horse  made 
a  spring  forward;  I  turned  to  see  what  was  the  mat- 
ter, and  lo  and  behold !  here  was  my  lame  man,  within 
a  few  steps  of  me,  coming  as  fleet  as  a  deer.  T  grasped 
my  pistol,  which  was  in  my  overcoat  pocket,  cocked 
it,  wheeled  about,  and  rushed  toward  him  ;  he  faced 
about,  and  in  a  few  jumps  more  I  should  have  been 
on  him,  but  he  plunged  into  the  thick  brush,  and  I 
could  not  follow  him.  When  we  got  to  the  tavern  the 
landlord  said  we  had  made  a  very  fortunate  escape, 
for  these  robbers  in  this  way  had  decoyed  and  robbed 
several  travelers  lately. 

Brother  Walker  being  the  oldest  man  and  rather 
infirm,  we  had  agreed  that  he  should  conduct  all  relig- 
ious ceremonies,  and  that  I  should  call  for  lodging, 
attend  to  horses,  pay  off  bills,  etc.  When  we  had 
got  down  into  Virginia  some  distance,  we  called  one 
evening  at  a  Mr.  Baly's,  who  kept  a  tavern  on  the 
road ;  his  wife  and  daughters  were  very  kind  and 
clever,  but  the  man  of  the  house  was  a  drunken  Uni- 
versalist.  He  was  not  sober  when  we  called,  but 
granted  us  the  liberty  to  stay  all  night.  While  I  was 
out  seeing  to  the  horses,  brother  Walker  and  th« 


202  A  r  T o D r  o n  K  A  r  rr  r  OF 

landlord  got  into  a  strong  debate  on  the  universal 
restoration  plan.  Brother  Walker  was  very  mild 
and  easy  in  debate  ;  the  landlord  was  abrupt  and  in- 
sulting, as  well  as  very  profane.  I  stood  it  a  good 
while,  but  at  length  I  got  tired  of  it,  and  said  to 
brother  Walker  that  the  way  he  debated  was  of  no 
use,  that  it  was  casting  pearls  before  swine.  The  old 
landlord,  at  this,  let  loose  a  volley  of  curses  on  me. 
I  did  not  attempt  any  debate,  but  shook  my  brimstone 
wallet  over  him  till  he  was  sick  and  tired  of  it.  The 
old  lady  and  daughters  were  very  much  mortified  at 
their  husband  and  father.  By  this  time  it  became 
proper  that  we  should  retire  to  bed.  Brother  Walker 
told  the  landlord  that  we  were  preachers,  and  asked 
leave  to  pray  in  the  family  before  we  went  to  bed. 
The  landlord  flatly  denied  us  that  privilege,  and  swore 
he  would  have  none  of  our  praying  about  him,  saying 
he  knew  we  only  wanted  to  pray  off  our  bill.  Brother 
Walker  mildly  expostulated  with  him,  and  insisted 
on  having  the  privilege  to  pray ;  but  all  in  vain.  He 
said  he  would  have  no  praying  about  his  house.  I 
then  asked  him  if  he  did  not  keep  a  house  of  public 
entertainment. 

ITe  replied,  "  Yes." 

"Then,"  said  I,  "do  you  not  allow  men  to  curse 
and  swear,  and  get  drunk  in  your  house,  if  they  pay 
for  it?" 

He  said,  "  Yes." 

•'  Well,  then,  we  have  as  good  a  right  to  pray  and 
serve  God  in  your  house,  if  we  pay  for  it,  as  they 
have  to  serve  the  devil  and  pay  for  it;  and  I  insist 
that  we  have  our  rights.  We  have  plenty  of  money, 
and  don't  wish  to  pray  off  our  bill."  So  said  I  to 
brother  Walker,  "  Go  to  prayer,  and  if  he  cuts  up  any 
capers,  I  '11  down  him,  and  hold  him  still  till  you  are 


PETER    CARTWRIGflT.  203 

done  praying  ;  for,"  said  I,  "  '  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
sufferetk  violence,  and  the  violent  take  it  by  force.'  " 
So  brother  W.  prayed,  and  I  watched  the  old  land- 
lord, who  sat  very  quiet  and  looked  sullen.  After  this 
we  retired  to  bed,  and  his  wife  and  daughter  made 
many  apologies  for  him,  and  hoped  we  would  not  be 
offended.  I  told  them  no,  not  at  all ;  that  he  was 
heartily  welcome  to  all  he  had  made  of  us.  They 
laughed,  and  said  they  had  never  seen  him  so  com- 
pletely used  up  before. 

In  the  morning  we  rose  early ;  our  horses  were  fed, 
and  breakfast  on  the  table.  We  prayed  and  took  our 
meal,  the  old  man  still  in  bed.  I  then  asked  the  land- 
lady for  our  bill.  She  frankly  said  she  would  not 
have  any  thing ;  that  we  were  welcome  to  all  we  had 
from  them,  and  invited  us  to  call  and  stay  with  them 
as  we  returned.  I  insisted  that  she  should  receive 
pay  ;  "  for  you  know,"  said  I,  "  the  old  gentleman  said 
we  wanted  to  pray  off  our  bill;"  but  she  utterly  re- 
fused. So  we  bade  farewell,  and  went  on  our  way 
rejoicing,  for  we  had  said  our  prayers  and  prayed  off 
our  bill  in  the  bargain. 

On  our  return  from  the  General  conference  in  Bal- 
timore, in  1820,  in  the  month  of  June,  which  was 
very  warm,  and  we  having  to  travel  on  horseback,  it 
may  be  supposed  that  our  journey  in  this  way  for  a 
thousand  miles  was  very  fatiguing.  When  we  got  to 
Knoxville,  East  Tennessee,  the  following  incident  in 
substance  occurred : 

Brother  Walker  and  myself  had  started  early  in  the 
morning,  had  traveled  about  twenty-five  miles,  and 
reached  Knoxville  at  noon.  We  rode  up  to  a  tavern 
with  a  view  of  dining,  but  finding  a  great  crowd  of 
aoisy,  drinking,  and  drunken  persons  there,  I  said  to 
brother  Walker :  "  This  is  a  poor  place  for  weary  travel- 


204  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

era,  and  we  will  not  stop  here."  We  then  rode  to 
another  tavern,  but  it  was  worse  than  the  first,  for 
here  they  were  in  a  real  bully  fight.  I  then  proposed 
to  brother  Walker  that  we  should  go  on,  and  said  we 
would  soon  find  a  house  of  private  entertainment, 
where  we  could  be  quiet ;  so  on  we  went.  Presently 
we  came  to  a  house  with  a  sign  over  the  door  of 
"Private  Entertainment,  and  Neio  Cider"  Said  I. 
"  Here 's  the  place ;  and  if  we  can  get  some  good  light 
bread  and  new  cider,  that's  dinner  enough  for  me." 

Brother  Walker  said :  "  That  is  exactly  what  I  want" 

We  accordingly  hailed.  The  old  gentleman  came 
out.  I  inquired  if  we  could  get  our  horses  fed,  and 
some  light  bread  and  new  cider  for  dinner. 

"  0  yes,"  said  the  landlord ;  "  alight,  for  I  suspect 
you  are  two  Methodist  preachers,  that  have  been  to 
Baltimore,  to  the  General  conference." 

We  replied  we  were.  Our  horses  were  quickly 
taken,  and  well  fed.  A  large  loaf  of  good  light  bread 
and  a  pitcher  of  new  cider  were  quickly  set  before  us. 
This  gentleman  was  an  Otterbein  Methodist.  His 
wife  was  very  sick,  and  sent  from  the  other  room  for 
us  to  pray  for  her.  We  did  so,  and  then  returned  to 
take  our  bread  and  cider  dinner.  The  weather  was 
warm,  and  we  were  very  thirsty,  and  began  to  lay  in 
the  bread  and  cider  at  a  pretty  liberal  rate.  It,  how- 
ever, seemed  to  me  that  our  cider  was  not  only  new 
cider,  but  something  more,  and  I  began  to  rein  up  my 
appetite.  Brother  Walker  laid  on  liberally,  and  at 
length  I  said  to  him:  "You  had  better  stop,  brother; 
for  there  is  surely  something  more  than  cider  here." 

"  I  reckon  not,"  said  he. 

But  as  I  was  not  in  the  habit  of  using  spirits  at  all,  I 
knew  that  a  very  little  would  keel  me  up,  so  I  forbore ; 
but  with  all  my  forbearance  presently  I  began  to  foeJ 


PETER   CART  WRIGHT.  205 

light-headed.  I  instantly  ordered  our  horses,  fearing 
»re  were  snapped  for  once. 

I  called  for  our  bill ;  the  old  brother  would  have 
nothing.  We  mounted,  and  started  on  our  journey. 
When  we  had  rode  about  a  mile,  being  in  the  rear, 
I  saw  brother  Walker  was  nodding  at  a  mighty  rate. 
After  riding  on  some  distance  in  this  way,  I  suddenly 
rode  up  to  brother  Walker  and  cried  out,  "  Wake  up ! 
wake  up !"  He  roused  up,  his  eyes  watering  freely. 
"I  believe,"  said  I,  "we  are  both  drunk.  Let  us 
turn  out  of  the  road,  and  lie  down  and  take  a  nap 
till  we  get  sober."  But  we  rode  on  without  stopping. 
We  were  not  drunk,  but  we  both  evidently  felt  it  fly- 
ing into  our  heads ;  and  I  have  thought  proper,  in  all 
candor,  to  name  it  with  a  view  to  put  others  on  their 
guard. 

We  journeyed  on  till  we  came  to  the  Crab  Orchard, 
where  was  kept  a  toll-gate.  This  gate  was  kept  at 
this  time  by  two  very  mean  men ;  they  also  kept  a 
house  of  entertainment;  and,  it  being  late,  we  con- 
cluded to  tarry  all  night.  The  fare  was  very  indiffer- 
ent. We  asked  the  privilege  to  pray  with  them.  It 
was  granted,  and  we  prayed  with  them  night  and 
morning ;  took  breakfast,  and  then  asked  our  bill. 
The  landlord  told  us,  and  I  drew  out  my  pocket-book, 
in  which  I  had  several  hundred  dollars  in  good  cur- 
rent bank  bills.  He  told  me  he  would  not  take  any 
of  them ;  he  must  have  silver.  I  told  him  I  had  no 
silver,  and  no  coin  but  a  few  cents.  He  very  ab- 
ruptly swore  he  knew  better;  he  knew  I  had  the 
silver.  I  assured  him  again  that  I  had  no  silver,  but 
he  persisted  in  swearing  he  knew  I  had,  and  that  we 
could  not  leave  or  pass  the  toll-gate  till  we  paid  our 
bill  of  fare.  Our  horses  were  all  ready  to  mount,  and 
1  had  fresh  loaded  my  pistol  over  night,  for  I  did  not 


206  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

like  the  signs  about  the  house;  and  as  I  had  a  good 
deal  of  money  in  bills  about  me,  I  had  determined  I 
would  not  be  robbed  without  leaving  my  mark. 
Brother  AValker  tried  to  reason  the  case  with  him, 
but  to  no  purpose.  I  then  threw  down  the  amount 
of  his  charge,  and  told  him  he  had  to  take  that  or 
lie/thing,  and  mounted  my  horse  and  started.  He 
ordered  one  of  his  servants  to  shut  and  lock  the  toll 
gate,  and  not  let  me  through.  I  spurred  my  horse, 
and  was  at  the  gate  nearly  as  quick  as  his  servant, 
and  drew  my  horsewhip,  and  told  the  negro  if  he 
attempted  to  close  the  gate  I  would  down  him.  The 
negro  took  fright,  and  let  go  the  gate,  and  took  to  his 
heels  for  safety.  The  moment  I  passed  through  the 
gate  I  wheeled  my  horse,  and  called  for  brother 
Walker  to  come  on ;  I  would  bear  him  harmless.  The 
landlord  called  for  his  pistols,  swearing  he  would  fol- 
low me.  I  told  him  to  come  on,  and  wheeled  my 
horse,  and  started  on  my  way  independently.  But 
he  took  the  "second,  sober  thought,"  and  declined 
pursuing  me.  This  was  to  me  a  pretty  trying  and 
tempting  circumstance,  but  I  survived  it. 

Shortly  after  this  brother  Walker  left  me  to  visit 
some  of  his  old  friends  and  relatives  in  West  Tennes- 
see, and  I  journeyed  on  toward  my  home  in  Christian 
county,  Kentucky.  Saturday  night  came  on,  and 
found  me  in  a  strange  region  of  country,  and  in  the 
hills,  knobs,  and  spurs  of  the  Cumberiand  Mountains. 
I  greatly  desired  to  stop  on  the  approaching  Sabbath, 
and  spend  it  with  a  Christian  people;  but  I  was  now 
in  a  region  of  country  where  there  was  no  Gospel 
minister  for  many  miles  around,  and  where,  as  I 
learned,  many  of  the  scattered  population  had  never 
heard  a  Gospel  sermon  in  all  their  lives,  and  where 
the  inhabitants  knew  no  Sabbath  only  to  hunt  arid 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  207 

visit,  drink  and  dance.  Thus  lonesome  and  pensive, 
late  in  the  evening,  I  hailed  at  a  tolerably-decent 
house,  and  the  landlord  kept  entertainment.  I  rode 
up  and  asked  for  quarters.  The  gentleman  said  I 
could  stay,  but  he  was  afraid  I  would  not  enjoy  my- 
elf  very  milch  as  a  traveler,  inasmuch  as  they  had 
••  party  meeting  there  that  night  to  have  a  little  dance. 
t.  inquired  how  far  it  was  to  a  decent  house  of  enter- 
tainment on  the  road;  he  said  seven  miles.  I  told  him 
if  he  would  treat  me  civilly  and  feed  my  horse  well, 
by  his  leave  I  would  stay.  He  assured  me  I  should 
be  treated  civilly.  I  dismounted  and  went  in.  The 
people  collected,  a  large  company.  I  saw  there  was 
not  much  drinking  going  on. 

I  quietly  took  my  seat  in  one  corner  of  the  house, 
and  the  dance  commenced.  I  sat  quietly  musing,  a 
total  stranger,  and  greatly  desired  to  preach  to  this 
people.  Finally,  I  concluded  to  spend  the  next  day — 
Sabbath — there,  and  ask  the  privilege  to  preach  to 
them.  I  had  hardly  settled  this  point  in  my  mind, 
when  a  beautiful,  ruddy  young  lady  walked  very 
gracefully  up  to  me,  dropped  a  handsome  courtesy,  and 
pleasantly,  with  winning  smiles,  invited  me  out  to 
take  a  dance  with  her.  I  can  hardly  describe  my 
thoughts  or  feelings  on  that  occasion.  However,  in 
a  moment  I  resolved  on  a  desperate  experiment.  I 
rose  as  gracefully  as  I  could;  I  will  not  say  with 
some  emotion,  but  with  many  emotions.  The  young 
lady  moved  to  my  right  side;  I  grasped  her  right 
hand  with  my  right  hand,  while  she  leaned  her  left 
arm  on  mine.  In  this  position  we  walked  on  the 
floor.  The  whole  company  seemed  pleased  at  this 
act  of  politeness  in  the  young  lady,  shown  to  a 
•erranger.  The  colored  man,  who  was  the  fiddler, 
began  to  put  his  fiddle  in  the  best  order.  1  then 


208  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

spoke  to  the  fiddler  to  hold  a  moment,  and  added 
that  for  several  years  I  had  not  undertaken  any  mat- 
ter of  importance  without  first  asking  the  blessing  of 
God  upon  it,  and  I  desired  now  to  ask  the  blessing  of 
God  upon  this  beautiful  young  lady  and  the  whole 
company,  that  had  shown  such  an  act  of  "politeness  to 
a  total  stranger. 

Here  I  grasped  the  young  lady's  hand  tightly,  and 
said,  "  Let  us  all  kneel  down  and  pray,"  and  then  in- 
stantly dropped  on  my  knees,  and  commenced  pray 
ing  with  all  the  power  of  soul  and  body  that  I  could 
command.  The  young  lady  tried  to  get  loose  from 
me,  but  I  held  her  tight.  Presently  she  fell  on  her 
knees.  Some  of  the  company  kneeled,  some  stood, 
some  fled,  some  sat  still,  all  looked  curious.  The 
fiddler  ran  off  into  the  kitchen,  saying,  "Lord  a 
marcy,  what  de  matter?  what  is  dat  mean?" 

While  I  prayed  some  wept,  and  wept  out  aloud, 
and  some  cried  for  mercy.  I  rose  from  my  knees  and 
commenced  an  exhortation,  after  which  I  sang  a 
hymn.  The  young  lady  who  invited  me  on  the  floor 
lay  prostrate,  crying  earnestly  for  mercy.  I  exhorted 
again,  I  sang  and  prayed  nearly  all  night.  About 
fifteen  of  that  company  professed  religion,  and  our 
meeting  lasted  next  day  and  next  night,  and  as  many 
more  were  powerfully  converted.  I  organized  a 
society,  took  thirty-two  into  the  Church,  and  se;  t 
them  a  preacher.  My  landlord  was  appointed  leader 
which  post  he  held  for  many  years.  This  was  the 
commencement  of  a  great  and  glorious  revival  of  re- 
ligion in  that  region  of  country,  and  several  of  the 
young  men  converted  at  this  Methodist  preacher 
dance  became  useful  ministers  of  Jesus  Christ. 

I  recall  this  strange  scene  of  my  life  with  astonish-, 
inent  to  this  day,  and  do  not  permit  myself  to  reason 


PETER    CARTWRTGHT.  209 

on  it  much.  In  some  conditions  of  society  I  should 
have  failed;  in  others  I  should  have  been  mobbed; 
in  others  I  should  have  been  considered  a  lunatic. 
So  far  as  I  did  permit  myself  to  reason  on  it  at  the 
time,  my  conclusions  were  something  like  these ' 
These  are  a  people  not  Gospel  taught  or  hardened. 
They,  at  this  early  hour,  have  not  drank  to  intoxica- 
tion, and  they  will  at  least  be  as  much  alarmed  at 
me  and  my  operations  as  I  possibly  can  be  at  theirs. 
If  I  fail,  it  is  no  disgrace;  if  I  succeed,  it  will  be  a 
fulfillment  of  a  duty  commanded,  to  be  "  instant  in 
season  and  out  of  season."  Surely,  in  all  human  wis- 
dom, it  was  out  of  season ;  but  I  had,  from  some  cause 
or  other,  a  strong  impression  on  my  mind,  from  the 
eginuing  to  the  end  of  this  affair — it  is  ended — that 
I  should  succeed  by  taking  the  devil  at  surprise,  as  he 
had  often  served  me,  and  thereby  be  avenged  of  him 
for  giving  me  so  much  trouble  on  my  way  to  General 
conference  and  back  thus  far. 

The  actions  prompted  by  those  sudden  impressions 
to  perform  religious  duty  often  succeed  beyond  all 
human  calculation,  and  thereby  inspire  a  confident 
belief  in  an  immediate  superintending  agency  of  the 
divine  Spirit  of  God.  In  this  agency  of  the  holy 
Spirit  of  God  I  have  been  a  firm  believer  for  more 
than  fifty-four  years,  and  I  do  firmly  believe  that  if 
the  ministers  of  the  present  day  had  more  of  the 
unction  or  baptismal  fire  of  the  Holy  Ghost  prompt- 
ing their  ministerial  efforts,  we  should  succeed  much 
better  than  we  do,  and  be  more  successful  in  winning 
souls  to  Christ  than  we  are.  If  those  ministers,  'or 
young  men  that  think  they  are  called  of  God  to  min- 
ister in  the  word  and  doctrine  of  Jesus  Christ,  were 
to  cultivate,  by  a  holy  life,  a  better  knowledge  of 
this  supreme  agency  of  the  divine  Spirit,  and  depend 
U 


Z10  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

less  on  the  learned  theological  knowledge  of  Biblical 
institutes,  it  is  my  opinion  they  would  do  vastly  more 
good  than  they  are  likely  to  do ;  and  I  would  numbly 
ask,  Is  not  this  the  grand  secret  of  the  success  of  all 
early  pioneer  preachers,  from  John  Wesley  down  to 
the  present  day? 

Now,  I  say,  for  one,  who  has  been  trying  to  preach 
In  the  wilderness  for  more  than  fifty  years,  that  1 
take  no  flattering  unction  to  my  soul  from  those  who 
pretend  to  speak  in  such  lofty  terms  of  the  old  and 
early  pioneers  of  Methodism,  for  in  the  very  next 
breath  they  tell  us  that  such  preachers  and  preach- 
ing will  not  do  now,  and  at  one  fell  swoop  sweep  us, 
as  with  the  besom  of  destruction,  from  the  face  of  the 
earth. 

I  am  often  reminded  by  the  advocates  of  learned 
and  theologically-trained  preachers,  of  a  circumstance 
that  occurred  years  gone  by  in  Kentucky,  after  the 
wilderness  state  of  the  country  had  passed  away,  and 
the  people  had  grown  up  into  improved  life,  and  many 
of  them  had  become  wealthy. 

In  the  region  alluded  to  there  was  a  large  and 
wealthy  Presbyterian  congregation,  that,  by  growing 
tired  of  their  old  and  early  preacher,  had  become 
vacant.  They  sought  a  popular  successor,  one  that 
was  up  with  the  improved  and  advanced  state  of  the 
times.  They  finally,  by  the  offer  of  a  large  call,  or 
salary,  succeeded  in  engaging  a  very  pious  young , 
minister  as  their  pastor.  At  his  first  appointment, 
he  took  for  his  text,  "Repent  ye,  therefore,  and 
be  converted,  that  your  sins  may  be  blotted  out, 
when  the  times  of  refreshing  shall  come  from  the 
presence  of  the  Lord."  Acts  iii,  19.  He  preached 
an  excellent  sermon  from  this  passage,  in  the  judg- 
ment of  the  congregation,  and  they  were  very  much 


PETER    CARTMVRIOI1T.  211 

dolignted.  Tlie  next  Sabbath  rolled  on.  Their  new 
pastor  rose  in  the  pulpit  and  took  the  same  text,  and 
delivered  substantially  the  same  sermon.  This  pro- 
duced a  little  whispering  among  their  wise  and  know- 
ing elders;  but  they  attributed  it  all  to  absence  of 
thought.  The  third  Sunday  rolled  on,  and  up  rose 
the  preacher,  reading  off  the  same  text  and  preaching 
the  same  sermon.  Well,  the  elders  concluded  that 
this  was  outrageous  and  insufferable,  and  that 
they  must  really  talk  to  him  and  put  a  stop  to  this 
way  of  preaching.  So  they  called  on  their  young 
pastor,  and  tabled  their  complaints  very  feelingly 
before  him,  asking  him  if  he  really  had  but  the  one 
sermon.  If  so,  they  must  call  the  congregation  to- 
gether and  dismiss  him.  To  all  of  which  the  pastor 
responded,  the  Bible  was  full  of  good  texts  as  the 
one  he  had  preached  from,  and  he  had  an  abundance 
of  good  sermons  ready;  but  he  thought  as  the 
signs  of  this  improved  age,  and  state  of  society,  re- 
quired an  improved  and  advanced  ministry,  so  did 
the  advanced  age  require  that  the  congregation 
should  fully  keep  up  with  an  improved  ministry; 
"and,"  said  the  minister,  "do  you  really  think  the 
congregation  has  complied  with  the  requirements  of 
my  sermon?  If  you  think  they  have,  and  you  shall 
be  the  judges,  I  am  ready  at  all  times  to  take  another 
text  and  preach  a  new  sermon." 

The  elders,  at  that  moment,  were  possessed  of  a 
dumb  devil,  and  they  never  afterward  called  their 
minister  to  chide  with  him.  As  the  old  truths  of  the 
(lospel  were  behind  the  times,  the  Lord  did  signally 
own  and  bless  the  labors  of  this  young  minister,  and 
made  him  a  savor  of  life  unto  life  to  many  of  his 
hearers,  giving  ample  evidence  that  he  will  own  and 
bless  his  \\o,  d. 


212  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

A  few  more  incidents  will  close  this  chapter.  It  is 
very  astonishing  how  easily  and  generally  mankind 
fall  into  idle  and  sinful  habits.  I  have  often  been  as- 
tonished at  the  far-seeing  wisdom  of  John  Wesley.  In 
the  General  Rules  of  his  United  Societies  he  interdicts 
dram-drinking ;  and  while  the  whole  religious  world, 
priests,  preachers,  and  members,  rushed  into  this  de- 
moralizing practice,  Mr.  Wesley  made  desisting  from 
dram-drinking  a  condition  of  membership  in  the 
Methodist  societies ;  and  although  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  in  her  organization,  as  a  wise  provision 
in  her  General  Rules,  forbids  dram-drinking,  yet  how 
often  and  how  long  did  it  remain  a  dead  letter !  From 
my  earliest  recollection  drinking  drams,  in  family  and 
social  circles,  was  considered  harmless  and  allowable 
socialities.  It  was  almost  universally  the  custom  for 
preachers,  in  common  with  all  others,  to  take  drams; 
and  if  a  man  would  not  have  it  in  his  family,  his 
harvest,  his  house-raisings,  log-rollings,  weddings,  and 
so  on,  he  was  considered  parsimonious  and  unsociable; 
and  many,  even  professors  of  Christianity,  would  not 
help  a  man  if  he  did  riot  have  spirits  and  treat  the 
company.  I  recollect,  at  an  early  day,  at  a  court 
time  in  Springfield,  Tennessee,  to  have  seen  and  heard 
a  very  popular  Baptist  preacher,  who  was  evidently 
intoxicated,  drink  the  health  of  the  company  in  what 
he  called  the  health  the  devil  drank  to  a  dead  hog — 
Boo !  I  have  often  seen  it  carried  and  used  freely  at 
large  baptizings,  where  the  ordinance  was  administer- 
ed by  immersion. 

In  1821,  the  last  year  I  traveled  the  Christian  circuit, 
I  took  in  a  preaching-place  in  a  densely-populated 
settlement  that  was  long  destitute  of  the  Gospel,  and 
had  many  notorious  drunkards  in  it.  Here  the  Lord 
owned  and  blessed  my  labors;  religion  spread  through 


PETER   CARTWRIGHT.  218 

the  settlement.  Among  the  rest  there  was  one  inter- 
esting family;  the  man  was  a  drunkard;  the  family 
became  deeply  interested  about  religion  and  joined 
the  Church,  and  were  remarkably  friendly  to  me; 
the  old  man  was  also  very  friendly.  On  a  certain 
occasion  I  met  him  in  a  store  in  Hopkinsville,  and — 
although  I  was  never  intoxicated  but  once  in  my  life, 
yet  I  had  wholly  abandoned  the  social  glass,  for,  ac- 
cording to  my  best  conviction,  it  was  a  bad  and  dan- 
gerous habit,  and  that  the  rules  of  the  Methodist 
Church  required  it — this  drinking  gentlemaa  called 
for  some  cherry-bounce,  and  sweetened  it  for  me  ex- 
pressly, out  of  pure  love  to  me,  as  he  said,  and  then 
invited  me  to  drink  with  him.  I  declined.  He  urged 
me.  I  refused.  I  told  him  I  had  wholly  given  op 
the  practice.  Nothing  would  satisfy  him ;  he  said,  if 
I  did  not  drink  with  him,  I  was  no  friend  of  his  or 
his  family,  and  he  would  never  hear  me  preach  again. 
I  told  him  that  it  was  all  in  vain  to  urge  me ;  my  prin- 
ciples were  fixed,  and  that  I  would  not  violate  my 
principles  for  the  friendship  of  any  man  or  mortal. 
He  flew  into  a  violent  rage,  and  cursed  and  abused  me. 
I  walked  off  and  left  him  in  his  glory.  He  never  for 
gave  me,  I  suppose,  and  made  his  family  leave  the 
Church,  and  would  not  let  them  come  to  hear  me 
preach,  and  he  lived  and  died  a  drunkard. 

In  1824  Jesse  Walker,  Samuel  H.  Thompson, 
F.  S.,  and  myself  were  elected  delegates  to  the 
General  conference  at  Baltimore;  the  first  three  from 
Missouri,  myself  from  Kentucky.  We  started  on 
horseback,  and  traveled  together.  Two  of  the  com- 
pany would  call  for  spirits  when  we  staid  at  public 
houses.  Brother  Thompson  and  myself  would  not 
drink  spirits  at  all.  %We  made  it  a  rule  to  pray  in 
families  wherever  we  staid,  if  it  was  agreeable.  1 


214  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

felt  hurt  that  two  Methodist  preachers,  delegates  to 
the  General  conference,  and  our  traveling  companions, 
would  call  for  and  drink  spirits  in  those  public  houses. 
Thompson  and  myself  remonstrated  with  them.  They 
defended  the  practice.  I  told  them  at  length  that  if 
they  did  not  quit  the  practice  I  would  not  travel  with 
them,  and  in  this  Thompson  joined  me.  Brother 
Walker  was  a  good  man,  and  for  our  sakes  he  agreed 
to,  and  did  quit  it  altogether,  and  we  got  along  much 
better. 

In  the  fall  of  1821  our  conference  was  held  in  Lex- 
ington, Kentucky,  and  I  was  appointed,  by  Bishop 
M'Kendree,  to  Cumberland  district,  containing  the 
following  appointments,  namely :  Green  River,  Somer- 
set, Wayne,  Roaring  River,  Goose  Creek,  Fountain 
Head,  Barren,  and  Bowling  Green  circuits;  it  lay 
partly  in  Kentucky  and  partly  in  Tennessee,  and  was 
a  large  and  populous  district,  containing  between  five 
and  six  thousand  members,  many  of  whom  had  grown 
wealthy;  there  was  also  a  great  number  of  talented 
local  preachers. 

On  my  first  round  of  quarterly  meetings — I  vas 
on  my  way  to  Somerset  circuit,  had  rode,  on  Fri  lay, 
about  fifty  miles,  and  my  horse  and  myself  were 
both  very  much  tired — I  called  at  several  houses  on 
the  public  highway,  and  asked  to  stay  all  night,  but 
was  denied.  About  dusk  I  hailed  another  house,  and 
asked  leave  to  stay.  The  man  said  I  could  not  stay. 
I  inquired  how  far  to  the  next  house  where  he  thought 
they  would  take  me  in.  He  said,  "Seven  miles." 
Said  I,  "My  dear  sir,  I  have  rode  to-day  fifty  miles, 
and  I  can  not  go  seven  more.  If  you  will  give  ILB  a 
fagot  of  fire,  I  will  camp  out  rather  than  go  any 
further." 

He  stepped  into  a  little  kitchen  hard  by  for  the  fire. 


PETEnCARTWTUGTlT.  215 

and  I  heard  his  old  lady  say  to  her  husband,  "  You 
had  better  let  that  man  stay.  If  he  gets  the  fire  he 
will  burn  up  the  barn  because  you  turned  him  off." 
And  as  she  spoke  out  loud,  I  replied,  equally  as  loud, 
"  Yes,  you  had  better  let  me  stay;  if  you  do  n't,  some 
mischief  will  befall  you  before  morning." 

He  threw  down  his  chunk  of  fire,  and  said,  "  Well, 
I  suppose  you  must  stay." 

Down  I  got,  stepped  to  the  kitchen  door,  and  said, 
"Good  lady,  will  you  give  me  supper  quick?  for  I 
could  get  no  dinner  on  the  road  to-day." 

"  0  yes,"  said  the  old  lady. 

My  horse  put  up,  my  supper  eaten,  I  felt  much 
better.  Presently  I  began  to  inquire  about  religion 
and  religious  denominations.  I  soon  found  out  that 
the  old  gentleman  and  old  lady  were  real  high-toned 
predestinarian  Baptists.  The  old  gentleman  informed 
me  that,  a  few  miles  off,  most  all  the  people  were 
Methodists,  and  that  he  was  really  afraid  they  would 
take  the  country,  and  that  they  had  a  quarterly  meet- 
ing the  next  day — Saturday — a  few  miles  from  there. 

Said  I,  "  A  quarterly  meeting ;  what  sort  of  a  meet- 
ing is  that?"  He  did  not  know,  he  replied. 

Skid  I,  "  What  did  you  call  the  name  of  this  relig- 
ious sect?" 

Said  he,  "  Methodist." 

"Methodist,"  said  I;  "what's  that?  What  sort 
of  people  are  they?" 

"  Ah,"  said  he,  "  they  are  the  strangest  people  you 
ever  saw  ;  they  shout  and  halloo  so  loud  you  may  hear 
them  for  miles;  they  hold  that  all  will  be  saved,  and 
a  man  can  live  without  sin  in  this  life,  and  yet  that 
a  Christian  can  fall  from  grace ;  and  all  this,"  said  lie, 
"is  not  half;  they  are  the  worst  people  you  ever  saw. 
They  had  a  camp  meeting  just  over  here  last  year, 


216  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

and  they  had  a  tent  they  called  the  preachers'  tent, 
and  there,  by  night  and  day,  the  preachers  carried  on- 
all  sorts  of  wickedness  ;  and,"  said  he,  "  they  are  beg- 
ging and  taking  all  the  money  out  of  the  country." 

"  Mercy  defend  us  !"  I  exclaimed ;  "  why  do  n't  you 
raise  a  company  and  drive  them  out  of  the  country  ?" 

"0,"  said  he,  "they  aie  too  strong  for  us;  if  we 
were  able  to  drive  them  they  should  soon  go,  you  may 
depend." 

Said  I,  "  What  a  wretched  set  they  must  be  ;  but  it 
may  be  they  are  misrepresented,  and  are  not  as  bad 
as  you  say." 

"  No,  sir,"  said  he ;  "I  was  there  at  the  camp  meet- 
ing, and  their  bad  conduct  I  saw  with  my  own  eyes.' 

"Well,"  said  I,  "if  these  things  be  so,  it  is  too  baa 
for  a  civilized  country."  By  this  time  they  thought 
that  it  was  near  bedtime,  and  he  said,  "  If  you  wish 
to  lie  down,  there  is  a  bed." 

"  But,"  said  T,  "  my  friend,  I  learn  you  are  a  pro- 
fessor of  religion,  and  religious  people  ought  always 
to  pray  with  their  families.  I  am  a  friend  to  religion, 
and  hope  you  will  pray  with  us  before  we  go  to  bed." 

"Ah,"  said  he,  "I  am  a  poor  weak  creature,  and 
can't  pray  in  my  family." 

"  0  !"  said  I,  "you  must  certainly  pray  for  us  ;  you 
ought  to  pray  for  the  benefit  of  these  interesting  chil 
dren  of  yours."  . 

"No,"  said  he,  "I  can't  do  it." 

"Well,  sir,"  said  I,  "we  must  have  prayers  before 
we  lie  down,  and  I  am  a  weak  creature,  too ;  but  if 
you  will  not  pray,  may  I  ?" 

"Do  as  you  please,"  said  ho. 

So  I  read  a  chapter,  rose,  gave  out  a  hymn,  and 
commenced  singing.  There  were  two  young  ladies 
present,  one  a  daughter,  the  other  a  niece,  of  the  old 


PETER   CARTWRIGHT.  217 

man ;  they  both  rose  and  sung  with  me.  Finally,  I 
knelt  down,  and  so  did  the  girls;  I  prayed,  but  the 
old  man  and  old  lady  kept  their  seats  all  the  time. 
In  prayer  I  told  the  Lord  vrhat  a  poor  weak  old  man 
lived  there,  and  asked  the  Lord  to  give  him  strength 
and  grace  to  set  a  better  example  before  his  family.  I 
also  prayed  the  Lord  to  have  mercy  on  those  deluded 
Methodists,  if  they  were  half  as  bad  as  my  old  friend 
had  represented  them ;  but  if  he  had  misrepresented 
them,  to  forgive  him,  and  prosper  them.  As  soon  as 
prayer  was  over  the  old  gentleman  and  lady  went  into 
the  kitchen,  and  the  niece  said  to  me,  "You  need  not 
believe  a  word  uncle  has  said  about  the  Methodists, 
and  the  doings  at  their  camp  meeting,  for  I  was  there, 
and  they  are  a  good  people,  and  my  uncle  is  preju- 
diced." His  daughter  said  the  same.  Presently  I 
stepped  out  at  the  door,  and  I  heard  the  old  lady  say 
to  her  husband,  "  He  is  a  Methodist  preacher." 

The  old  man  said,  "  No,  he  is  not." 

"Well,"  said  she,  "he  is,  and  you  have  done  it 
now." 

The  old  man  said,  "  I  do  n't  care  if  he  is ;  it 's  good 
enough  for  him." 

Shortly  after  this  I  retired  to  bed,  and  the  two 
young  ladies  began  to  sing  some  of  the  Methodist 
camp  meeting  songs,  and  really  they  sang  delightfully. 
I  rose  early  next  morning,  and  went  on  to  my  quar- 
terly meeting,  and  we  hsd  a  real  good  one. 

I  will  just  say  here,  in  this  connection,  the  pcxt 
summer  I  held  a  large  and  splendid  camp  meeting  on 
the  ground  where  this  old  gentleman  had  told  me  there 
was  such  bad  conduct,  and  he  aad  hib  family  were 
out;  and  right  in  their  presence  1  toid  the  congrega- 
tion what  this  man  had  said  about  then,  to  mo.  The 
old  man  could  not  face  it,  and  shn-V  off  ati.i  went 


218  AUTO  BIOGRAPHY   OP 

home.  His  daughter  and  niece  both  were  powerfully 
converted,  and  joined  the  Methodist  Church. 

When  I  got  over  on  the  southern  part  of  my  district, 
the  summer  following,  to  a  camp  meeting  in  the  Roar- 
ing River  circuit,  having  been  detained  a  little  by 
affliction  in  my  family,  and  not  being  able  to  reach 
my  camp  meeting  till  Sunday,  brother  Simon  Carlisle 
was  in  the  stand  preaching.  He  was  a  real  Boanerges, 
an  able  and  successful  New  Testament  preacher.  The 
congregation  was  large  and  very  disorderly.  Brother 
Carlisle  reproved  them  sharply,  but  they  behaved  very 
rudely.  When  he  closed,  I  rose  to  preach,  but  the  con- 
gregation was  so  disorderly  that  I  found  it  would  be 
very  difficult  for  me  to  proceed ;  so  at  length  I  told  the 
vast  crowd  if  they  would  give  me  their  attention  a  few 
moments,  I  would  relate  an  incident  or  two  worthy 
of  their  attention.  I  commenced  by  relating  several 
short  anecdotes.  They  began  to  draw  up  nearer,  and 
nearer  still;  the  anecdotes  were  well  calculated  to 
excite  their  risibilities.  Right  before  me  sat  an  old, 
gray -headed  man,  with  straight-breasted  coat;  he  did 
not  like  the  laughter  that  my  anecdotes  produced,  and 
he  spoke  out  loudly  to  me  and  said,  "Make  us  cry — 
make  us  cry;  don't  make  us  laugh." 

As  quick  as  thought  I  replied  to  him  thus: 

"  I  do  n't  hold  the  puckering  strings  of  your  mouths, 
and  I  want  you  to  take  the  negro's  eleventh  coinmand- 
ment;  that  is,  every  man  mind  his  own  business." 

"Yes,  sir;  yes,  sir,"  said  the  old  man,  and  sank 
down  perfectly  still. 

This  produced  considerable  mirth  in  the  congrega- 
tion, but  by  this  time  the  vast  crowd  had  gathered 
up  as  close  as  they  well  could,  and  were  all  eyes  and 
ears.  I  then  announced  my  text:  "To  the  unknown 
God,  whom  ye  ignorantly  worship,  nim  declare  I  unto 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  219 

you  "  And  for  two  hours  I  held  listening  thousands 
spel.i-bound,  while,  to  the  very  best  of  my  abilities,  1 
defended  the  supreme  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ,  and 
riddled  Arianism  as  best  I  could.  Arianism  was  rife 
through  all  that  country,  although  they  called  them- 
selves *'  Christians,"  and  were  called  by  the  world,  New 
Lights,  Marshallites,  or  Stoneites.  (These  were  two 
leading  Presbyterian  ministers,  that  in  the  time  of  a 
great  revival  in  Kentucky,  were  disowned  by  the 
Synod  of  Kentucky.  They  headed  the  New  Light 
party,  and  gratuitously  assumed  the  name  of  Chris- 
tian, yet  they  evidently  imbibed  the  Arian  sentiment, 
and  spread  their  errors,  and  did  great  mischief  in  cor- 
rupting the  Scriptural  doctrine  of  the  true  divinity  of 
Jesus  Christ.)  The  two  Baptist  preachers  that  would 
not  receive  me  into  the  Baptist  Church  without  re- 
baptizing,  in  Stogden's  Valley,  at  an  early  day,  else- 
where stated  in  this  narrative,  were  present  on  this 
occasion.  The  circumstance  of  that  encounter  was 
one  of  the  incidents  that  I  had  just  related  to  gain 
audience  with  the  people,  and  the  old  man  with  straight 
coat  that  bade  me  make  them  cry  and  not  laugh, 
whom  I  had  taken  to  be  a  Methodist  from  his  straight 
coat,  proved  to  be  an  old  Baptist  man  that  had  long 
been  in  the  habit  of  speaking  out  to  the  preachers 
in  time  of  preaching;  but,  alas  for  these  Baptist 
preachers  !  they,  with  many  more  of  their  co-laboring 
ministerial  brethren,  had  been  carried  off  into  the 
whirlpool  of  Arianism.  While  I  was  preaching,  I 
not  only  gained  audience,  but  there  was  solemn 
silence  and  profound  attention ;  for,  by  the  blessing  of 
God,  I  succeeded  in  interesting  the  whole  congrega- 
tion in  the  sublime  subject  under  discussion.  And 
when  I  came  to  show  that  if  Jesus  Christ  was  not  the 
supreme  God,  that  all  heaven  and  earth  was  filled 


220  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 

with  idolatrous  devotions,  and  that  angels  and  men, 
arid  redeemed  spirits  had  been,  were  now,  and  eter- 
nally would  be,  nothing  more  or  less  than  gross 
idolaters :  "  Now,"  said  I,  "  if  there  is  a  single  man, 
minister,  woman,  or  child,  in  this  assembly,  that 
will  dare  to  ascribe  divine  honors  to  Jesus  Christ  and 
not  believe  in  his  supreme  divinity,  let  them  show  it 
by  raising  their  hand." 

I  then  paused,  but  not  one  hand  went  up.  It  was 
an  awful  solemn  time ;  every  soul  seemed  to  feel  that 
the  supreme  Divinity  brooded  over  the  assembly.  I 
then  said,  I  wanted  one  more  triumphant  testimony 
of  our  holy  religion  that  should  overwhelm  all  the 
legions  of  devils  that  rose  from  the  stagnant  pools 
of  Arianism,  Unitarian  ism,  and  Socinianism.  I  then 
desired  that  every  one  in  that  vast  crowd  that  believed 
that  Jes"us  Christ  was  justly  entitled  to  supreme 
honor  and  glory,  and  expected  to  get  to  heaven 
through  his  merits  alone,  to  give  me  the  sign  by  rais- 
ing their  right  hand  ;  the  hands  went  up  by  the  thou- 
sand, and  with  hands,  triumphant  shouts  of  glory 
ascended  by  hundreds,  and  many  sinners  were  seen 
with  streaming  eyes,  and  even  exulting  shouts,  giving 
glory  to  Jesus  Christ.  The  vast  multitude  fell  almost 
in  every  direction,  and  I  sat  down  under  a  deep 
sense  that  God  was  there.  Mourners  were  found  all 
through  the  crowd,  to  be  numbered  by  the  hundred. 
Many  of  the  Arians  recanted ;  and  after  the  legions 
that  had  distracted  them  for  years  were  cast  out, 
came  to  their  right  minds,  were  clothed,  and  once 
more  esteemed  it  their  highest  honor  to  sit  at  the  feet 
of  Jesus  Christ.  There  was  no  more  preaching  for  that 
day  and  the  next.  The  cries  of  the  penitents,  and 
shouts  of  the  young  converts  and  the  old  professors, 
went  up  without  intermission,  day  and  night.  Two 


PETER   CARTWRIGHT.  221 

hundred  professed  religion,  and  one  hundred  and 
seventy  joined  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  he- 
fore  the  close  of  the  camp  meeting,  and  it  was 
remarked  by  many,  that  it  seemed  the  easiest  thing 
for  sinners  to  get  religion  here  of  any  place  or  time 
they  ever  saw,  and  they  could  not  account  for  it; 
but  I  told  them  that  it  was  plain  to  me  the  Lord  had 
given  marching  orders  to  the  legions  of  little  Arian 
devils  to  the  lake,  as  he  had  done  to  the  swine  in  the 
days  of  old,  and  when  these  were  cast  out  it  was  quite 
easy  to  come  to  their  right  minds.  Perhaps  there 
never  was  a  more  manifest  display  of  God's  saving 
mercy  on  a  small  scale  than  on  the  present  occasion, 
since  the  confounding  of  tongues  at  the  building  ol 
the  tower  of  Babel.  Many  Arians  returned  to  their 
old  folds,  perfectly  tired  of  their  wanderings,  and  hav- 
ing cast  anchor  once  more  in  a  safe  harbor,  they  gave 
their  wanderings  o'er.  Those  that  remained  among 
the  New  Lights  so  called,  split  into  many  factions,  and 
fought  each  other  till  they  ate  each  other  up  all  to 
the  tail,  and  that  was  immersion.  This  remains,  and 
perhaps  will,  till  the  millennial  glory  shall  inun- 
date the  whole  world.  A  remarkable  incident  oc- 
curred on  this  occasion  which  I  must  not  omit  re- 
lating. 

There  was  a  very  confirmed  Arian  lady  in  the 
congregation  who  denied  the  supreme  divinity  of 
Jesus  Christ.  Late  on  Monday,  she  professed  to  get 
very  happy,  and  shouted  out  aloud;  but  said,  while 
shouting,  among  other  things,  she  knew  I  was  wrong 
in  my  views  of  Jesus  Christ,  but  she  desired  som? 
one  to  go  and  bring  me  to  her,  for  she  wanted  to 
ghow  me,  that  though  I  was  in  error,  she  could 
love  her  enemies  and  do  good  for  evil.  At  first  1 
refused  to  go;  but  she  sent  again.  I  th^n  thought  of 


222  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

the  unjust  judge,  and  lest  by  her  continual  coming 
she  might  weary  me,  I  went. 

She  told  me  she  knew  I  was  wrong,  and  that  sh» 
was  right,  and  that  God  had  blessed  her  and  madr 
her  happy. 

Said  I,  "Sister,  while  I  was  preaching,  did  you  no 
get  mad?" 

She  answered,  "Yes,  very  mad;  I  could  have  cut 
your  throat.  But  I  am  not  mad  now,  and  love  you, 
and  God  has  blessed  me." 

Said  I,  "I  fear  you  are  not  happy;  ,you  have  only 
got  in  a  little  better  humor,  and  think  this  is  happi- 
ness. But  we  will  test  this  matter.  Let  us  kneel 
down  here,  and  pray  to  God  to  make  it  manifest  who 
is  wrong." 

"But,"  said  she,  "I  do  n't  want  to  pray;  I  want  to 
talk." 

"Well,"  said  I,  "I  have  no  desire  to  talk;  I  always 
go  to  God  in  prayer;  and  I  now  believe  God,  in  an- 
swer to  prayer,  will  recover  you  out  of  the  snare  of 
the  devil,  for  you  certainly  are  not  happy  at  all." 

So  I  called  upon  all  around — and  they  were  many — 
to  kneel  down  and  help  me  to  pray  God  to  dislodge 
the  lingering  Arian  devil  that  still  claimed  a  resi- 
dence in  this  woman's  heart.  We  knelt,  and  by  the 
score  united  in  wrestling,  mighty  prayer;  and  while 
we  prayed  it  seemed  that  the  bending  heave:'-,  came 
near;  and  if  the  power  of  God  was  ever  fci  among 
mortals,  it  was  felt  then  and  there.  The  Avo^.an  lost 
her  assumed  good  feelings,  and  sunk  down  into  sullen, 
dumb  silence,  and  so  she  remained  during  the  meet- 
ing ;  and  for  weeks  afterward  many  of  h^r  friends 
feared  she  would  totally  lose  her  balance  of  inind. 
She  became  incapable  of  her  business  till  one  night 
she  had  a  dream  or  vision,  in  which  slit  afterward 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  223 

leclared  she  saw  her  Savior,  apparently  in  all  his 
supreme  glory,  and  he  told  her  she  was  wrong,  but  he 
frankly  forgave  her ;  and  when  she  came  to  herself, 
or  awoke,  she  was  unspeakably  happy,  and  never 
afterward,  for  one  moment,  doubted  the  supreme  di- 
vinity of  Jesus  Christ.  She  joined  the  Methodists, 
and  lived  and  died  a  shining  and  shouting  Christian. 

There  is  another  circumstance  I  wish  to  state  be- 
fore I  close  this  chapter. 

The  brother,  Simon  Carlisle,  before  mentioned,  had 
been  a  regular  circuit  preacher,  somewhere  down 
south,  and  there  was  a  wealthy  family  at  or  near 
one  of  his  appointments.  The  old  gentleman  and- 
lady  were  members  of  the  Church  ;  but  they  had  a 
very  profligate  son,  who  behaved  disorderly  at  one  of 
Carlisle's  appointments,  and  Carlisle  sharply  reproved 
him  for  his  disorderly  conduct,  at  which  the  young 
man  took  great  umbrage,  and  swore  he  would  have 
satisfaction  out  of  Carlisle.  The  house  of  the  father 
of  this  young  man  was  the  preacher's  home.  When 
Carlisle  came  round  next  time,  he  was  as  usual  invited 
by*  this  old  brother  home  with  him.  Brother  Carlisle 
said,  as  he  had  offended  his  son,  perhaps  he  had  bet- 
ter not  go ;  but  the  old  brother  and  sister  insisted  he 
should  go ;  for  they  knew  their  son  was  to  blame  alto- 
gether, and  that  Carlisle  had  done  nothing  but  his 
duty  in  reproving  him ;  so  he  went.  This  young  mar, 
was  at  home,  but  slunk  about,  and  would  not  bo 
social  with  Carlisle ;  and  next  morning,  while  Car- 
lisle was  fixing  his  horse  to  ride  on  to  his  next  ap- 
pointment, he  took  a  brace  of  pistols,  and  slipped 
into  the  room  where  Carlisle's  .saddle-bags  were  lying, 
nnd  put  those  pistols  in  the  bottom  of  his  saddle-bags, 
anperceived  and  unsuspected  by  Carlisle,  or  any  body 
?lse.  Shortly  after  Carlisle  started,  the  young  man 


224  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

pretended  to  miss  his  pistols,  and  declared  he  knetr 
that  Carlisle  had  stolen  them.  The  old  people  remon- 
strated against  any  such  imputation  ;  but  he  persisted 
in  affirming  he  knew  that  the  preacher  had  stolen  his 
pistols,  and  off  he  started,  got  a  writ  and  an  officer, 
and  pursued  Carlisle,  and  before  he  reached  his  next 
appointment  they  overtook  him.  The  officer  informed 
him  of  the  allegation,  and  that  he  had  a  writ  for  him, 
and  that  he  was  his  prisoner.  Carlisle,  conscious  of 
his  innocence,  told  the  officer  that  he  was  welcome  to 
search  him,  and  handed  over  his  saddle-bags,  when, 
lo  and  behold  !  there  were  the  pistols  at  the  bottom 
of  them.  What  could  he  say?  He  protested  his 
innocence,  but  submitted  to  the  law,  was  found  guilty, 
and  only  escaped  being  incarcerated  in  prison  by  the 
father  of  this  mean  young  man  going  his  bail  till 
further  trial. 

We  will  not  narrate  the  trouble  and  cost  Carlisle 
was  put  to  before  he  got  clear  of  this  malicious  prose- 
cution. Suffice  it  to  say,  during  the  pendency  of  this 
prosecution,  the  annual  conference  came  on,  and  Car- 
lisle had  to  answer  to  this  criminal  charge;  but  what 
could  he  say  ?  He  had  no  evidence  of  his  innocence, 
and  by  possibility  could  have  none.  The  conference 
did  not  believe  him  guilty,  but  his  guilt  was  sworn  to 
by  this  young  man.  In  this  dilemma  into  which  the 
conference  was  thrown,  Carlisle  rose  and  requested 
the  conference,  for  the  honor  of  the  cause  of  God, 
that  they  would  expel  him  till  God  should,  in  some 
way,  vindicate  his  innocence.  He  affirmed  he  was 
innocent,  and  that  he  believed  God  would  shortly 
make  his  innocence  manifest  to  all. 

The  conference  very  reluctantly,  and  by  a  bare 
majority,  expelled  him.  Able  counsel,  believing  in 
his  innocence,  volunteered  in  his  defense.  He  was 


PETER   CART  WRIGHT.  225 

cleared.  Believing  it  to  be  his  duty  and  privilege,  he 
married,  and  when  I  saw  him  he  had  an  interesting 
rising  family.  The  Church  restored  him  to  his  former 
standing,  offered  him  a  circuit,  but  for  the  present  he 
declined  traveling,  and  went  to  work  to  support  his 
family,  and  did  it  with  credit  to  himself  and  them. 

But  the  circumstance  that  triumphantly  vindicated 
his  innocence  remains  yet  to  be  told.  The  young 
man  who  pursued  him  so  maliciously,  in  about  nine 
months  after  Carlisle  was  arrested,  was  taken  down 
with  a  fever  common  to  that  region  of  country.  The 
best  medical  aid  was  called  in;  he  was  faithfully  at- 
tended and  administered  unto.  His  parents  were 
much  alarmed  for  his  safety  and  his  salvation.  He 
was  talked  to  and  prayed  with,  but  to  no  purpose. 
His  physicians  told  him  he  must  die.  He  then  said 
he  could  not  die  till  he  disclosed  one  important  mat- 
ter. His  parents  were  called  in,  and  he  frankly  told 
them  and  others  that  he  put  his  pistols  in  Carlisle's 
saddle-bags  himself;  and  shortly  after  the  disclosure 
he  expired,  without  hope  of  mercy. 
15 


226  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

SERMON  ON  BAPTISM  AT  CAMP  MEETING. 

THERE  was,  in  the  bounds  of  the  Goose  Creek  cir- 
cuit, a  Baptist  minister,  who  was  a  tolerably  smart 
man,  and  a  great  prosclyter  from  other  Churches, 
and  who  almost  always  was  harping  on  immersion  as 
the  only  mode  of  Christian  baptism,  and  ridiculing 
what  he  called  "baby  sprinkling."  We  had  an  ap- 
pointment for  a  camp  meeting  in  this  circuit,  in  what 
was  called  Poplar  Grove.  There  was  a  fine  little 
widow  woman,  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  lived  here;  and  this  Baptist  preacher  tried 
his  best  to  proselyte  her,  and  make  a  Baptist  of  her. 
She  at  length  got  tired  of  his  water  talk,  and  told 
him  if  he  would  come  to  the  camp  meeting,  and 
patiently  hear  the  presiding  elder,  Peter  Cartwright, 
preach  one  sermon  on  baptism,  on  Sunday,  she  would 
give  him  a  new  suit  of  clothes,  out  and  out.  He 
agreed  to  it;  but  he  was  to  sit  patiently,  and  hear 
the  sermon  through;  if  he  did  not,  then  he  was  not  to 
have  the  suit  of  clothes. 

When  I  got  to  the  camp-ground,  my  little  spunky 
Methodist  widow  was  tented  on  the  ground.  She 
came  and  invited  me  to  her  tent,  and  then  told  me 
the  proposition  she  had  made  to  Mr.  W.,  the  Baptist 
preacher.  "  And  now,"  said  she,  *'do  your  best;  if 
he  runs,  the  suit  of  clothes  is  yours;  and  if  he  stands 
his  ground,  and  you  do  your  very  best,  you  shall  have 
as  good  a  suit,  any  how." 


PETEK   CARTWRIGHT.  227 

This  was  a  very  large  encampment,  well  arranged; 
and  there  were  about  twenty  strong,  talented  Methodist 
preachers,  from  the  traveling  and  local  ranks,  present. 
The  meeting  commenced  and  progressed  with  great 
interest,  and  there  were  many  melting  Gospel  sermons 
preached.  Many  sinners  were  awakened  and  con- 
verted, both  among  the  whites  and  colored  people. 
Sunday  morning  came,  and  my  Baptist  preacher  ar- 
rived; and  we  were  soon  made  acquainted.  He  pro- 
posed that  he,  if  he  felt  like  it,  should  have  the  priv- 
ilege of  replying  to  me.  "Certainly,"  said  I,  "with 
all  my  heart." 

Eleven  o'clock  arrived,  the  hour  appointed  me  to 
commence  my  sermon  on  baptism.  It  was  supposed 
that  there  were  ten  thousand  people  on  the  ground. 
My  heart  rather  quailed  within  me,  but  I  prayed  for 
light,  a  ready  mind,  and  success.  I  took  no  text  in 
particular,  but  submitted  the  four  following  proposi- 
tions for  discussion  : 

First.  The  design  and  intent  of  water  baptism. 

Second.  Who  were  the  Divinely-appointed  adminis- 
trators of  water  baptism. 

Third.  The  proper  mode  of  water  baptism 

Fourth.  Who  were  the  qualified  subjects  of  bap- 
tism. 

My  Baptist  minister  took  his  seat  in  the  altar,  in 
front  of  me.  He  listened  with  tolerable  attention 
while  I  was  on  the  first  and  second  propositions.  As 
I  approached  the  third  point,  the  galled  jade  winced 
a  little  ;  but  when  I  came  to  the  fourth  point,  and 
took  my  position  that  all  infants  had  the  first  and 
only  indisputable  title  to  baptism,  and  that  all  adults 
must  become  converted,  and  be  like  little  children, 
before  they  could  claim  any  valid  title  to  water  bap- 
tism, my  preacher  became  very  restive.  Finally,  1 


'228  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

propounded  this  question:  "Is  not  that  Church 
which  has  no  children  in  it  more  like  hell  than 
heaven?"  I  then  added,  "If  all  hell  was  searched, 
there  would  not  be  a  single  child  found  in  it;  but  all 
children  are  in  heaven ;  therefore,  there  being  no  chil- 
dren in  the  Baptist  Church,  it  was  more  like  hell  than 
heaven." 

The  Baptist  preacher  here  rose  to  his  feet  and 
started.  I  called  out  to  him  to  stop  and  hear  me  out ; 
but  he  replied  he  could  not  stand  it,  and  kept  on  and 
cleared  the  ground ;  so  he  lost  his  suit  of  clothes,  and 
I  gained  one.  But  what  was  much  better  than  all 
this,  I  was  listened  to  for  three  hours;  and  the  attention 
of  the  multitude  seemed  not  to  falter,  but  they  heard 
with  profound  interest,  and  it  was  the  opinion  of  hun- 
dreds that  this  discussion  did  a  vast  amount  of  good. 

Our  camp  meeting  progressed  with  increasing  in- 
terest; many  were  awakened,  and  about  forty  were 
converted  and  added  to  the  Church. 

In  the  course  of  the  summer  of  1822  we  held  a 
camp  meeting  in  Logan  county,  Kentucky,  the  county 
in  which  I  was  chiefly  raised.  At  this  meeting  there 
came  a  strange  kind  of  preacher  among  us,  who  held 
that  a  Christian  could  live  so  holy  in  this  life,  that  he 
would  never  die,  but  become  all  immortal,  soul,  body, 
and  all.  He  seemed  like  a  good,  innocent,  ignorant 
kind  of  creature.  He  asked  of  me  the  liberty  to 
preach ;  but  I  told  him  that  was  altogether  out  of  the 
question ;  that,  as  the  manager  of  the  meeting,  I  felt 
myself  accountable  to  the  people  as  well  as  to  the 
Lord,  for  the  doctrines  advanced  from  the  stand. 

One  night  while  I  was  outside  of  the  encampment 
settling  some  rowdies,  he  thought,  I  suppose,  he  would 
flatter  my  vanity  a  little ;  and  stepping  up  to  me,  he 
told  me  he  had  a  heavenly  message  for  me. 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  229 

"Well."  said  I.  "  what  is  it?" 

lie  said  it  had  just  been  revealed  to  him  that  I  was 
never  to  die,  but  to  live  forever. 

"  Well,"  said  I,  "  who  revealed  that  to  you  ?" 

He  said,  "  An  angel." 

"Did  you  see  him  ?"  I  asked. 

"0  yes,"  was  the  reply;  "he  was  a  white,  beauti- 
ful, shining  being." 

-Well,"  said  I,  "did  you  smell  him?' 

This  stumped  him,  and  he  said  he  did  not  under 
stand  me. 

"Well/'  said  I,  "did  the  angel  you  saw  smell  of 
brimstone?*'  He  paused,  and  I  added,  "He  must 
have  smelled  of  brimstone,  for  he  was  from  a  region 
that  burns  with  fire  and  brimstone,  and  consequently 
from  hell ;  for  he  revealed  a  great  lie  to  you,  if  he 
told  you  I  was  to  live  forever!" 

At  this  he  slipped  off,  and  never  gave  me  any  more 
trouble  during  the  meeting. 

There  were  a  great  many  people  in  attendance  at 
this  meeting,  and  among  the  rest,  some  youngsters 
who  called  themselves  gentlemen;  some  from  the 
country,  and  some  from  Russellville.  These  fellows 
would  occupy  the  seats  we  had  prepared  for  the 
ladies.  I  announced  from  the  stand  that  the  gentle- 
men and  ladies  were  to  sii  apart,  and  requested  every 
gentleman  to  remove  to  the  seats  on  the  left,  prepared 
for  them. 

There  were  some  twenty  who  did  not  move.  Said 
I,  "We  request  every  gentleman  to  retire  from  the 
ladies'  seats,  that  I  may  see  how  many  country 
clowns  and  town  fops  there  are,  for  these  will  not 
move!"  All  then  left  but  five,  and  I  began  to 
count  them;  they  then  left  in  a  hurry,  but  were 
very  angry. 


230  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

Among  them  was  a  young  sprig  of  the  bar,  the  son 
of  a  Major  L.  He  was  in  a  mighty  pet,  and  told  his 
father,  who  happened  not  to  be  present.  His  father 
and  I  dined  together  that  day  at  a  friend's  house.  Ho 
brought  up  the  subject,  and  said  I  was  wrong ;  that 
many  young  men  did  not  know  any  better;  and  that 
he  thought  hard  of  me  for  exposing  his  son. 

Said  I,  "  Major,  do  you  not  believe  if  a  company 
of  Shawnee  Indians  were  to  come  into  one  of  our  re- 
ligious assemblies,  and  see  all  the  women  seated  on 
one  side  and  most  of  the  men  on  the  other  side,  that 
they  would  have  sense  and  manners  enough  to  take 
their  seats  on  the  men's  side?" 

He  answered  me  abruptly,  "No;  I  don't  believe 
they  would." 

"  Well,"  said  I,  "  it  is  my  opinion  they  would,  and 
that  they  have  more  manners  than  many  of  the  pre- 
tended young  gentlemen  of  the  day." 

He  flew  into  a  violent  passion,  and  said  if  we  were 
not  in  the  presence  of  ladies  he  would  abuse  me.  I  told 
him  if  he  thought  to  abuse  and  frighten  me  from  doing 
my  duty  in  keeping  order  in  the  congregation,  he  was 
very  much  mistaken,  and  I  would  thank  him  to  mind 
his  own  business,  and  I  would  most  assuredly  attend 
to  mine.  Here  the  subject  dropped  for  the  present.  I 
returned  to  the  camp-ground.  Presently  he  sent  for 
me  to  talk  the  matter  over.  I  told  the  messenger, 
brother  Cash,  a  local  preacher,  that  I  should  not  go, 
for  the  Major  was  very  irritable,  and  only  wanted  to 
insult  and  abuse  me,  and  that  I  was  not  of  a  mind  to 
take  abuse.  I  did  not  go.  Presently  brother  Cash 
returned,  and  said  that  the  Major  pledged  his  word 
and  honor  that  he  would  not  insult  me,  but  that  he 
wanted  to  talk  the  matter  over  in  a  friendly  way. 

I  then  consented,  and  went  to  him  with  brother 


P  K  T  E  K    C  A  11  T  W  R  I  G  11  T  .  231 

Cash,  and  wo  had  passed  but  a  few  words  when  he 
commenced  a  tirade  of  abuse.  Brother  Cash  tried  to 
check  him,  but  he  would  not  be  stopped.  I  then 
kold  him  that  he  had  forfeited  his  word  and  honor, 
and  therefore  .vas  beneath  my  notice,  and  turned  off. 
lie  flew  into  a  desperate  rage,  and  said  if  he  thought 
I  would  fight  him  a  duel  he  would  challenge  me. 

"Major,"  said  t,  very  calmly,  "if  you  challenge  me 
F  will  accept  it." 

"Well,  sir,"  said  he,  "I  do  dare  you  to  mortal 
combat." 

"Very  well,  I'll  fight  you;  and,  sir,"  said  I,  "ac- 
cording to  the  laws  of  honor,  I  suppose  it  my  right 
to  choose  the  weapons  with  which  we  are  to  fight?" 

"  Certainly,"  said  he. 

"  Well,"  said  I,  "  then  we  will  step  over  here  into 
this  lot,  and  get  a  couple  of  cornstalks;  I  think  I  can 
finish  you  with  one." 

But  0,  what  a  rage  he  got  into  !  lie  clinched  his 
fists  and  looked  vengeance.  Said  he,  "If  I  thought  I 
could  whip  you  I  would  smite  you  in  a  moment." 

"Yes,  yes,  Major  L.,"  said  I,  "but,  thank  God,  you 
can't  whip  me;  but  do  n't  you  attempt  to  strike  me, 
for  it  you  do,  and  the  devil  gets  out  of  you  into  me, 
I  shall  give  you  the  worst  whipping  you  ever  got  in 
all  your  life,"  and  then  walked  off  and  left  him. 

His  wife  was  a  good,  Christian  woman,  and  the  fam- 
ily was  tented  on  the  ground.  At  night,  after  meet- 
ing was  closed,  I  retired  to  bed,  and  about  midnight 
there  came  a  messenger  for  me  to  go  to  Major  L.'s  tent 
and  pray  for  him,  for  he  was  dying.  Said  I,  "What  is 
the  matter  with  him?" 

"  0,  he  says  he  has  insulted  you,  one  of  God's  min- 
isters, and  if  you  do  n't  come  and  pray  for  him,  he  will 
lie  and  go  to  bell." 


232  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

"Well,"  said  I,  "  if  that's  all,  the  Lord  increase  his 
pains.  I  shall  not  go;  let  him  take  a  grand  sweat ;  it 
will  do  him  good,  for  he  has  legions  of  evil  spirits  in 
him,  and  it  will  be  a  long  time  before  they  are  all 
cast  out." 

I  did  not  go  nigh  him  at  that  time.  After  an  hour 
or  two  he  sent  for  me  again.  I  still  refused  to  go. 
By  this  time  he  got  into  a  perfect  agony;  he  roared 
and  prayed  till  he  could  be  heard  all  over  the  camp- 
ground. Presently  his  wife  came  and  entreated  me, 
for  her  sake,  to  go  and  pray  for  and  talk  to  the  Major. 
So  I  concluded  to  go,  and  when  I  got  into  the  tent, 
there  he  was  lying  at  full  length  in  the  straw,  and 
praying  at  a  mighty  rate.  I  went  to  him  and  said, 

"Major,  what  is  the  matter?" 

"0!"  said  he,  "matter  enough;  I  have  added  tc 
my  ten  thousand  sins  another  heinous  one  of  insulting 
and  abusing  you,  a  minister  of  Jesus  Christ,  for  labor- 
ing to  keep  order  and  do  good.  0  will  you,  can  you, 
forgive  me  ?'' 

"Yes,  Major,  I  can  and  do  forgive  you;  but  remem- 
ber, you  must  have  forgiveness  from  God,  or  you  are 
lost  and  ruined  forever." 

"Can  you  possibly  forgive  me,"  said  he,  "so  far  as 
to  pray  for  me?  if  you  can,  do  pray  for  me,  before  I 
am  swallowed  up  in  hell  forever." 

I  prayed  for  him,  and  called  on  several  others  to 
pray  for  him.  He  continued  in  great  distress  all  the 
next  day,  and  some  time  the  following  night  it  pleased 
God  to  give  him  relief,  and  he  professed  comfort  in 
believing. 

This  case  plainly  shows  how  the  devil  often  over- 
shoots his  mark;  but,  perhaps,  it  more  clearly  shows 
how  God,  in  his  infinite  goodness  and  mercy,  makes 
the  wrath  of  man  to  praise  him.  It  seems  to  me  that 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  233 

at  least  a  legion  of  very  dirty  little  devils  were  cast 
out  of  Major  L. 

We  had  a  very  interesting  quarterly  meeting  the 
past  spring  in  Russellville,  and  a  considerable  number 
in  the  higher  and  wealthier  walks  of  life,  especially 
among  the  ladies,  gave  signs  of  repentance,  and  a 
disposition  to  devote  themselves  to  a  religious  life.  I 
had  given  them  a  special  and  pressing  invitation  to 
attend  our  camp  meeting,  and  accordingly  they  came, 
and  there  was  a  glorious  work  going  on  in  the  con- 
gregation from  time  to  time.  Many  came  to  the 
altar  as  penitents,  and  sought  and  found  mercy  of  the 
Lord.  And  although  these  wealthy  ladies  would  weep 
under  the  word,  yet  we  could  not  get  them  to  the 
altar,  and  I  was  afraid  it  was  pride  that  kept  them 
back,  and  frankly  told  them  so,  assuring  them,  if 
this  was  the  case,  they  need  not  expect  to  obtain 
religion. 

They  told  me  that  it  was  not  pride  that  kept  them 
away,  but  that  the  altar  was  so  crowded  not  only  with 
mourners,  but  idle  professors  and  idle  spectators,  and 
that  in  many  instances  the  mourners  were  uncere- 
moniously trodden  on  and  abused,  and  the  weather 
being  very  warm,  the  mourners  in  the  altar  must  be 
nearly  suffocated.  These  were  the  reasons  why  they 
did  not  come  into  the  altar  as  seekers,  and  not  pride; 
and  I  assure  the  reader  I  profited  very  much  by  these 
reasons  given  by  those  ladies,  for  I  knew  all  this  and 
much  more  might,  with  great  propriety,  be  said  about 
our  altar  operations.  So  I  determined,  at  all  hazards, 
to  regulate,  renovate,  and  cleanse  the  altar  of  God, 
and  turn  out,  and  keep  out,  all  idle,  strolling,  gaping 
lookers-on;  and  when  the  evening  sermon  closed,  I 
rose  in  the  stand,  and  I  told  them  all  these  objections 
of  the  ladies,  and  I  deliberately  indorsed  them  as 


234  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

valid  objections  to  our  altar  exercises,  and  told  them 
[  was  going  to  invite  every  seeker  of  religion  to 
come  into  the  altar,  and  assured  them  they  should  bo 
protected  from  these  abuses:  and  in  order  to  u  fair 
start,  I  invited  all  to  rise  up  and  retire  out  of  the  altar 
except  seekers;  and  directed  that  the  avenues  leading 
to  the  altar  be  kept  clear  at  all  times ;  that  there  was 
to  be  no  standing  on  the  seats,  and  no  standing  up 
around  the  pales  of  the  altar ;  that  no  person  whatever 
could  come  into  the  altar  unless  invited,  and  that  no 
person  was  to  talk  to,  or  pray  with,  the  mourners  unin- 
vited, unless  they  got  very  happy.  I  appointed  and 
named  out  my  men  to  keep  order.  Thus  arranged,  and 
our  large  altar  being  cleared,  and  the  aisles  kept  open, 
I  invited  the  mourners  to  come  as  humble  penitents, 
and  kneel  in  the  altar,  and  pray  for  mercy;  and  we 
all  were  astonished  at  the  number  that  distinguished 
themselves  as  seekers.  I  suppose  there  were  not  less 
than  one  hundred,  and  almost  all  of  them  professed 
comfort  that  night,  and  among  the  rest,  many  of 
those  fine  wealthy  ladies  from  town.  It  was  sup- 
posed that  this  was  one  among  the  best  camp  meet- 
ings ever  held  in  Logan  county,  where  there  had  been 
many,  very  many,  glorious  camp  meetings,  where 
camp  meetings  started  in  modern  times;  and  they 
had  been  in  progress  for  twenty-two  years,  every 
year  more  or  less.  The  fruits  of  this  camp  meeting 
I  hope  to  see  with  pleasure  in  vast  eternity. 

The  Methodist  Church  received  an  impetus  and 
strength  at  this  meeting,  that  vastly  increased  her 
usefulness,  her  members,  and  religious  respectability. 
I  sincerely  hope  it  is  going  on  and  increasing  to  this 
day.  And  here  permit  me  to  remark,  from  many 
years'  experience,  that  sanctified  wealth  will  always 
prove  a  blessing  to  the  Church  of  God;  bu-t  unsAnc 


PETER    CARTWRIOHT.  235 

tified  wealth,  though  poured  into  the  Church  by  the 
million,  never  fails  to  corrupt  and  curse  the  Church, 
[f  our  wealthy  people  will  come  themselves  and  bring 
their  wealth,  and  consecrate  the  whole  -without  any 
reserve  to  God,  it  is  almost  incalculable  to  tell  the 
instrumental  g^od  that  can  and  will  result  to  the 
cause  of  religion;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  if  religion 
must  be  defeated,  the  obligations  of  the  Gospel  loos- 
ened, the  rules  of  the  Church  not  exacted,  a  time- 
serving ministry  employed  and  supported,  this  is,  and 
has  been,  the  death-knell  to  all  Churches  so  far  as 
inward  piety  is  concerned.  Look  at  the  needless,  not 
to  say  sinful  expenditures  in  our  older  cities  and  dis- 
tricts of  country ;  the  unnecessary  thousands  expended, 
not  in  building  needful  and  decent  churches,  for  this 
is  right,  but  ornamental  churches,  to  make  a  vain 
show  and  gratify  pampered  pride.  Look  at  the  orna- 
mented pulpits,  pewed  and  cushioned  seats,  organs, 
and  almost  all  kinds  of  instruments,  with  salaried 
choirs,  and  as  proud  and  graceless  as  a  fallen  ghost, 
while  millions  upon  millions  of  our  fallen  race  are 
dying  daily,  and  peopling  the  regions  of  eternal  woe 
for  the  want  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ;  and  as 
scarce  as  ministers  are  in  some  places  in  our  own 
happy  country,  yet  there  are  thousands  that  are 
ready  and  willing  to  go  to  the  utmost  verge  of  this 
green  earth,  and  carry  the  glad  tidings  of  mercy  to 
those  dying  millions,  if  they  had  the  means  of  sup- 
port. Would  it  not  the  better  comport  with  the  obli- 
gations of  our  holy  Christianity  to  refrain  from  those 
superfluous  expenditures,  and  with  a  liberal  hand 
and  devoted  heart  apply,  or  furnish  the  means  to 
carry  the  glf»d  tidings  of  salvation  to  those  that  sit  in 
the  region  and  shadow  of  moral  death,  than  to  apply 
them,  as  is  done  in  many  directions  in  this  Christian 


236  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

land  ?  Say,  ye  professed  lovers  of  Jesus  Christ,  are 
not  your  responsibilities  tremendously  fearful  ?  There 
is  wealth  enough  in  the  Churches,  and  among  the 
friends  of  the  different  Christian  denominations  in  this 
happy  republic,  if  rightly  husbanded  and  liberally 
bestowed,  to  carry  the  Bible  and  a  living  ministry  to 
every  nation  on  the  face  of  the  whole  earth.  And 
may  we  be  permitted  to  hail  with  Christian  rapture 
the  rising  glory  of  this  liberal  spirit,  when  we  shall 
see  it  as  the  Apocalyptic  angel  flying  in  the  midst  of 
heaven,  having  the  everlasting  Gospel  to  preach  to 
every  nation,  kindred,  and  tongue !  Say,  0  say ! 
when  shall  we  see  this  happy  day  ?  May  the  Lord 
hasten  it  in  his  time,  and  we  be  co-workers  together 
with  him!  Will  the  Christian  world  say,  Amen? 

During  my  presidency  on  this  district  up  to  the  fall 
of  1824,  there  was  a  blessed  revival  in  many  parts 
of  the  district,  and  many  joined  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church.  There  are  several  interesting  incidents, 
no  doubt,  that  have  clean  escaped  my  recollection , 
but  there  are  some  I  remember,  and  I  will  embody 
them  here  as  well  as  I  can. 

At  a  camp  meeting  held  in  the  edge  of  Tennessee, 
a  considerable  revival  took  place,  and  some  tall 
sons  and  daughters  of  Belial  were  brought  down  to 
cry  for  mercy.  Religion  made  its  mark  in  several 
wealthy  families.  Persecution  was  pretty  fierce; 
the  rowdies  sent  off  and  got  whisky,  drank  freely, 
and  disturbed  us  considerably.  We  arrested  some 
of  them,  and  they  were  fined.  Finally,  they  collected 
their  forces  in  the  woods,  a  short  distance  from  the 
camp-ground,  and  resolved  to  break  up  our  camp 
meeting;  they  then  elected  their  captain  an(*  all 
other  subordinate  officers.  Their  plan  was  to  arm 
themselves  with  clubs,  to  mount  their  horses,  and 


PETEft   CARTWRIGH1.  237 

ride  bravely  through  the  camp-ground,  and  break 
down  officers,  preachers,  and  any  body  else  that 
would  oppose  them. 

Saturday  afternoon  was  the  time  appointed  for 
them  to  drive  us  from  the  ground,  but  in  the  mean 
time  we  found  out  their  plans,  and  many  of  their  names. 
Their  captain  called  his  name  Cartwright;  all  their 
oflicers  assumed  the  name  of  some  preacher.  We 
made  our  preparations  accordingly,  and  were  per- 
fectly ready  for  them.  They  drank  their  whisky, 
mounted  thtiir  horses,  armed  with  sticks  and  clubs 
and  then  came,  almost  full  speed,  into  our  camp 
As  [  was  captain  of  the  interior,  I  met  the  captain  of 
the  Philistines,  and  planted  myself  near  the  opening 
bet \veen  the  t*o  tents,  where  they  were  to  enter  the 
in-closure..  Aa  the  mounted  captain  drew  near  the 
entering  place  i  sprang  into  the  breach ;  he  raise$  his 
club,  bidding  ue  to  stand  by,  or  he  would  knock  me 
down. 

I  cried,  "Cr«*ck  away." 

He  spurred  his  horse  and  made  a  pass  at  me,  sure 
enough;  but,  iortunately,  I  dodged  his  stroke.  The 
next  lick  was  mine,  and  I  gave  it  to  him,  and  laid  him 
flat  on  his  back,  his  foot  being  in  the  stirrup.  His 
horse  got  my  next  stroke,  which  wheeled  him  "  right 
about;"  he  dragged  his  rider  a  few  steps  and  dropped 
him,  and  then  gave  this  redoubtable  captain  leg  bail 
at  a  mighty  rate.  The  balance  of  the  mounted  rowdies, 
seeing  their  leader  down  and  kicking,  wheeled  and  in- 
gloriously  fled.  We  took  care  of  the  captain,  of  course, 
and  fined  him  fifty  dollars.  This  gave  us  entire  con- 
trol of  the  encampment,  and  peace  in  all  our  borders 
during  our  meeting. 

Connected  with  this  meeting  was  another  incident 
*f  thrilling  interest,  something  like  the  following. 


238  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

There  were  two  young  men  in  this  settlement  of 
wealthy  and  respectable  parentage,  who  were  dis- 
tantly related.  They  both  were  paying  attention  to  a 
very  wealthy  young  lady.  Some  jealousy  about  rival- 
ship  sprung  up  between  them;  they  were  mutually 
jealous  of  each  other,  and  it  spread  like  an  eating 
cancer.  They  quarreled,  and  finally  fought;  both 
armed  themselves,  and  each  bound  himself  in  a 
solemn  oath  to  kill  the  other.  Thus  sworn,  and 
armed  with  pistols  and  dirks,  they  attended  camp 
meeting.  I  was  acquainted  with  them,  and  apprised 
of  the  circumstances  of  this  disagreeable  affair.  On 
Sunday,  when  I  was  addressing  a  large  congrega- 
tion, arid  was  trying  to  enforce  the  terrors  of  the  vio- 
lated law  of  God,  there  was  a  visible  power  more  than 
human  rested  on  the  congregation.  Many  fell  under 
the  ^reaching  of  the  word.  In  closing  my  discourse 
[  called  for  mourners  to  come  into  the  altar.  Both 
these  young  men  were  in  the  congregation,  and  the 
Holy  Spirit  had  convicted  each  of  them;  their  mur- 
derous hearts  quailed  under  the  mighty  power  of 
God,  and  with  dreadful  feelings  they  made  for  the 
altar.  One  entered  on  the  right,  the  other  on  the  left. 
Each  was  perfectly  ignorant  of  the  other  being  there. 
I  went  deliberately  to  each  of  them,  and  took  their 
deadly  weapons  from  their  bosoms,  and  carried  them 
into  the  preachers'  tent,  and  then  returned  and  labored 
faithfully  with  them  and  others — for  the  altar  was  full — 
nearly  all  the  afternoon  and  night.  These  young  men 
had  a  sore  struggle;  but  the  great  deep  of  their  hearts 
was  broken  up,  and  they  cried  hard  for  mercy,  and 
while  I  was  kneeling  by  the  side  of  one  of  them,  jus* 
before  the  break  of  day,  the  Lord  spoke  peace  to  hi? 
wounded  soul.  He  rose  in  triumph,  and  gave  some 
thrilling  shouts.  I  hastened  to  the  other  young  man 


PETEB    CART  WRIGHT.  239 

at  the  other  side  of  the  altar,  and  in  less  than  fifteen 
minutes  God  powerfully  blessed  his  soul,  and  he  rose 
and  shouted  victory;  and  as  these  young  men  faced 
about  they  saw  each  other,  and  staring  simultaneously, 
met  about  midway  of  the  altar,  and  instantly  clasped 
each  other  in  their  arms.  What  a  shout  went  up  to 
heaven  from  these  young  men,  and  almost  the  whole 
assembly  that  were  present !  There  were  a  great  many 
more  who  were  converted  that  night;  and,  indeed,  it 
was  a  night  long  to  be  remembered  for  the  clear  con- 
version of  souls.  One  of  these  young  men  made  an 
able  itinerant  preacher.  He  traveled  a  few  years, 
had  a  brilliant  career,  and  spread  the  holy  fire  wher- 
ever he  went.  He  then  fell  sick,  lingered  a  little 
while,  and  died  triumphantly.  There  was  a  remark- 
able instance  of  the  power  of  religion  manifested 
in  the  change  of  these  two  young  men.  A  few  hours 
before  they  were  sworn  enemies,  thirsting  for  each 
other's  blood,  but  now  all  those  murderous  feelings 
were  removed  from  them,  and,  behold!  their  hearts 
were  filled  with  love.  "  Old  things  were  done  away, 
and  all  things  became  new." 

T  will  relate  another  circumstance,  though  a  little 
out  of  the  order  of  time,  which  will  serve  to  show  the 
malignity  of  an  unrenewed  human  heart.  In  a  little 
town  in  Breckenridge  county,  Kentucky,  called  Hard- 
insburg,  there  lived  a  notorious  infidel,  who  delighted, 
on  almost  all  occasions,  to*  treat  the  Christian  religion 
with  scorn  and  contempt.  It  was  his  special  pride  to 
mortify  the  feelings  of  professors  of  religion  and  min 
isters  of  the  Gospel.  In  the  course  of  my  traveling 
excursions  it  fell  to  my  lot,  almost  a  total  stranger  in 
the  place,  to  be  detained  here  several  days  and  nights. 
Tne  citizens  having  little  or  no  preaching  in  the  place, 
invited  me  to  preach  to  them  of  evenings.  I  conseiitej 


240  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

to  do  so,  and  there  were  very  good  congregations  and 
some  very  good  signs  of  a  revival  of  religion.  The  peo- 
ple were  very  friendly  to  me,  and  several  respectable 
citizens  gave  me  an  invitation  to  dine  with  them,  and 
I  did  so.  This  infidel  had  attended  my  preaching  in 
common  with  the  rest,  and  in  common  with  the  rest 
of  the  citizens  he  gave  me  a  very  friendly  invitation 
to  dine  with  him.  Having  learned  his  infidel  charac 
ter,  the  first  time  I  declined.  Several  respectable 
citizens  urged  me  to  accept  his  invitation,  saying, 
surely  something  strange  had  come  over  Mr.  A.,  for  he 
was  never  known  to  invite  a  preacher  to  his  house 
before,  in  all  his  life,  and  they  urged  me  to  go.  Ac- 
cordingly, the  next  day  he  invited  me  home  with  him 
to  dinner.  I  went,  and  when  we  came  to  the  table, 
instead  of  requesting  me  to  ask  a  blessing,  he  said,  as 
we  drew  up  to  the  table,  "  Mr.  Cartwright,  I  never  per- 
mit any  man  to  ask  a  blessing  at  my  table,  nor  do  I 
do  it  myself;  for  it  is  all  hypocrisy." 

I  had  not  seated  myself.  Said  I,  "  Mr.  A.,  did  you 
not  invite  me,  as  a  preacher,  to  dine  with  you  ?" 

"Yes,  sir." 

"  Do  you  not  know  that  preachers  are  in  the  habit 
of  asking  a  blessing  at  table,  sir  ?" 

"Yes,  sir,"  said  he;  "but  I  will  have  none  of  it 
at  my  table." 

"  Very  well,  sir,"  said  I,  "  if  I  am  denied  the  priv- 
ilege of  asking  a  blessing  at  your  table,  I  assure  you 
I  will  not  eat  with  you,"  wheeled  off,  took  up  my  hat 
and  started,  bidding  him  good- by. 

"0,  Mr.  Cartwright,"  said  he,  "you  must  not  leave 
without  eating  with  me." 

"I  tell  you,  sir,"  was  my  reply,  "I  will  not,"  and 
went  out.  His  manner  of  treating  me  soon  flew  all 
over  the  village,  and  the  wickedest  people  in  it 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  241 

cried  out  shame,  shame,  on  Mr.  A.,  and  greatly  ap 
plauded  me  for  not  eating  with  him.  He  rendered 
himself  very  unpopular  by  this  mean  act,  and  I 
shrewdly  suspect  he  never  treated  another  preacher 
as  he  had  treated  me.  "Lord,  what  is  man  that 
thou  art  mindful  of  him,  or  the  son  of  man  that  thou 
visitest  him  ?" 

The  Kentucky  conference  sat  in  Lexington  again 
this  fall,  September  25,  1822;  in  Maysville,  Sep- 
tember 24,  1823.  Here  we  elected  our  delegates  to 
the  fourth  delegated  General  conference,  which  sat 
in  Baltimore,  May  1,  1824.  This  was  the  third 
General  conference  to  which  I  was  elected.  Our 
Kentucky  conference  was  held  in  Shelbyville,  Sep- 
tember 23,  1824,  and  up  to  this  time  we  had  approxi- 
mated to  the  following  number  of  traveling  preachers 
and  members: 

Members.  Trar.  Prchn. 

Ohio  conference. 36.541  122 

Kentucky  conference 24,683  92 

Tennessee  conference 25,509  ;7 

Mississippi  conference 9,009  48 

Missouri  conference 11,773  55 

103,515  402 

This  ye*r  closed  my  twentieth  year  of  regular  trav- 
eling, from  the  time  I  was  admitted  on  trial  in  the  old 
Western  conference  in  1804.  Then  we  had  one  con- 
ference, now  we  hatl  eight ;  for  the  General  confer- 
ence bad  formed  three  more  in  the  west;  namely, 
Holston,  Illinois,  and  Pittsburg;  then  we  had  two 
bishops,  now  we  had  five ;  then  we  had  four  presid- 
ing-elder  districts,  now  we  had  thirty ;  then  we  had 
thirty-two  traveling  preachers,  now  we  had  over  400; 
then  in  all  the  western  world  we  had  11,877  members, 
now  we  had  over  120,000,  including  the  membership 
16 


242  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

of  the  Pittsburg  conference,  which  properly  belonged 
to  the  west ;  then  we  had  in  all  these  United  States 
and  the  Canadas  seven  annual  conferences,  now  we 
had  fifteen;  then  we  had  in  the  entire  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  in  these  United  States  and  the 
Canadas  altogether,  of  members,  113,134,  of  travel- 
ing preachers,  400,  now  we  had  of  members,  328,523, 
traveling  preachers,  1,272. 

Thus  you  have  a  very  small  view  of  the  progress 
and  prosperity  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in 
twenty  years  of  her  history.  In  these  estimates  we 
make  no  account  of  the  thousands  that  were  awak- 
ened and  converted  by  her  instrumentalities,  and  had 
joined  other  branches  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  nor 
of  the  thousands  that  had  died  in  the  triumphs  of 
faith  and  gone  home  to  heaven. 

When  we  consider  that  these  United  States  had 
just  emerged  from  colonial  dependence,  and  had 
passed  a  bloody  revolution  of  seven  years'  continu- 
ance, and  were  yet -surrounded  by  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  bloody  savages,  hostile  to  the  last  degree,  and 
that  we  were  without  credit  abroad,  and  without  means 
or  money  a^home,  we  may  well  join  with  the  vener- 
able founder  of  Methodism,  Mr.  John  Wesley,  and 
say  that  "  God  had  strangely  set  us  free  as  a  nation." 
And,  on  the  other  hand,  in  reference  to  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  when  we  consider  that  her  minis- 
ters were  illiterate,  and  not  only  opposed  and  de- 
nounced by  the  Catholics,  but  by  all  Protestant 
Churches ;  that  we  were  every-where  spoken  against, 
caricatured,  and  misrepresented;  without  colleges  and 
seminaries,  without  religious  books  or  periodicals, 
without  missionary  funds,  and  almost  all  other  relig- 
ious means;  and  our  ministers  did  not  for  many  years, 
on  an  average,  receive  over  fifty  dollars  for  a  support 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  243 

annually,  and  a  Methodist  preacher's  library  almost 
entirely  consisted  of  a  Bible,  Hymn-Book,  and  a  Dis- 
cipline, may  we  not,  without  boasting,  say  with  one 
of  old,  "What  hath  God  wrought?" 

A  Methodist  preacher  in  those  days,  when  he  felt 
that  God  had  called  him  to  preach,  instead  of  hunt- 
ing up  a  college  or  Biblical  institute,  hunted  up  a 
hardy  pony  of  a  horse,  and  some  traveling  appara- 
tus, and  with  his  library  always  at  hand,  namely, 
Bible,  Hymn-Book,  and  Discipline,  he  started,  and 
with  a  text  that  never  wore  out  nor  grew  stale,  he 
cried,  "Behold  the  Lamb  of  God,  that  taketh  away 
the  sins  of  the  world."  In  this  way  he  went  through 
storms  of  wind,  hail,  snow,  and  rain;  climbed  hills 
and  mountains,  traversed  valleys,  plunged  through 
swamps,  swam  swollen  streams,  lay  out  all  night, 
wet,  weary,  and  hungry,  held  his  horse  by  the  bridle 
all  night,  or  tied  him  to  a  limb,  slept  with  his  sad- 
dle blanket  for  a  bed,  his  saddle  or  saddle-bags  for 
his  pillow,  and  his  old  big  coat  or  blanket,  if  he 
had  any,  for  a  covering.  Often  he  slept  in  dirty 
cabins,  on  earthen  floors,  before  the  fire ;  ate  roasting 
ears  for  bread,  drank  butter-milk  for  coffee,  or  sage 
tea  for  imperial ;  took,  with  a  hearty  zest,  deer  or 
bear  meat,  or  wild  turkey,  for  breakfast,  dinner,  and 
supper,  if  be  could  get  it.  His  text  was  always  ready, 
•'  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God,"  etc.  This  was  old-fashion- 
ed Methodist  preacher  fare  and  fortune.  Under  such 
circumstances,  who  among  us  would  now  say,  "  Here 
am  I,  Lord,  send  me  ?" 


244  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

KEMOVAL    TO    ILLINOIS. 

MY  three  years  on  the  Cumberland  district  were 
years  of  immense  labor  and  toil,  and  of  great  peace 
and  prosperity  to  the  Church.  I  had  seen  with  pain 
ful  emotions  the  increase  of  a  disposition  to  justify 
slavery,  and  our  preachers,  by  marriage  and  other 
ways,  became  more  and  more  entangled  with  this 
dark  question,  and  were  more  and  more  disposed  to 
palliate  and  justify  the  traffic  and  ownership  of  human 
beings,  and  the  legislatures  in  the  slave  states  made 
the  laws  more  and  more  stringent,  with  a  design  to 
prevent  emancipation.  Moreover,  rabid  abolitionism 
spread  and  dreadfully  excited  the  south.  I  had  a 
young  and  growing  family  of  children,  two  sons  and 
four  daughters;  was  poor,  owned  a  little  farm  of  about 
one  hundred  and  fifty  acres ;  lands  around  me  were 
high,  and  rising  in  value.  My  daughters  would  soon 
be  grown  up.  I  did  not  see  any  probable  means  by 
which  I  could  settle  them  around  or  near  us.  More- 
over, I  had  no  right  to  expect  our  children  to  marry 
into  wealthy  families,  and  I  did  not  desire  it  if  it 
could  be  so;  and  by  chance  they  might  marry  into 
slave  families.  This  I  did  not  desire.  Besides,  I  saw 
there  was  a  marked  distinction  made  among  the 
people  generally,  between  young  people  raised  with- 
out work  and  those  that  had  to  work  for  their  living; 
and  though  I  had  breasted  the  storms  and  suffered 
the  hardships  incident  to  an  itinerant  life  for  more 


PETER   CART  AV  RIGHT.  245 

than  twenty  years,  chiefly  spent  in  southern  Kentucky 
and  western  Tennessee,  and  though  I  had  just  as  many 
friends  as  any  man  ought  to  have,  and  hundreds  that 
claimed  me  as  the  humble  and  unworthy  instrument 
of  their  salvation,  and  felt  not  the  least  fear  that  I 
should  not  be  well  supported  during  life  as  a  Methodist 
preacher,  the  whole  country  having  grown  up  into 
improved  and  comfortable  living ;  and  although  many, 
very  many  of  my  friends  in  the  Church  and  out  of 
the  Church  remonstrated  against  the  idea  of  my 
moving  to  a  new  country,  yet,  after  much  prayer  and 
anxious  thought,  I  very  clearly  came  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  it  was  my  duty  to  move ;  and  although  the 
thought  of  leaving  thousands  of  my  best  friends  was 
severely  painful  to  me,  and  sometimes  almost  over- 
whelmed me,  and  shook  my  determination,  yet  I  saw, 
or  thought  I  saw,  clear  indications  of  Providence  that 
I  should  leave  my  comfortable  little  home,  and  move 
to  a  free  state  or  territory,  for  the  following  reasons : 
First,  I  would  get  entirely  clear  of  the  evil  of  slavery. 
Second,  I  could  raise  my  children  to  work  where 
work  was  not  thought  a  degradation.  Third,  I  be- 
lieved I  could  better  my  temporal  circumstances,  and 
procure  lands  for  my  children  as  they  grew  up.  And 
fourth,  I  could  carry  the  Gospel  to  destitute  souls  that 
had,  by  their  removal  into  some  new  country,  been 
deprived  of  the  means  of  grace.  With  these  convic 
tions,  I  consulted  my  wife,  and  found  her  of  the  same 
mind,  and  in  the  spring  of  1823,  with  my  brother- 
in-law,  R.  Gaines,  a  local  preacher,  and  old  father 
Charles  Holliday,  set  out  to  explore  Illinois  in  quest 
of  a  future  home. 

We  made  the  journey  on  horseback;  packed  horse 
feed,  and,  in  part,  our  own  provisions,  as  best  we 
could,  and  camped  out  several  times.  We  knew  th* 


246  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

country  was  thinly  settled,  especially  the  north-eastern, 
north,  and  north-western  parts  of  the  state;  and  our 
inclination  led  us  in  these  directions.  We  took  our 
course,  without  roads,  up  the  Big  Wabash  valley,  till 
we  struct  the  Illinois  river  above  Fort  Clark — now 
Peoria  city — thence  wound  our  way  north  of  said 
river,  through  a  part  of  what  was  then  called  the 
Military  ^t.-act;  recrossed  the  river  at  what  is  now 
called  Bear  istown — then  there  was  only  one  solitary 
family  and  A  small  cabin — and  made  our  way  up  the 
Sangamon  river  to  a  small  settlement  on  Richland 
creek,  in  Grt^gamon  county,  the  then  extreme  north- 
ern county  in  the  state,  to  the  place  on  which  I  now 
live,  and  ffhere  I  have  lived  ever  since  I  moved  to 
the  state,  and  at  which  I  expect  my  friends  will 
deposit  my  mortal  remains  in  our  family  cemetery. 
Here  I  found  a  very  decent  family,  with  a  small  im- 
provement, having  a  double  cabin,  about  the  best  the 
country  afforded.  They  were  settled  on  Congress 
land ;  and,  indeed,  though  the  land  had  been  surveyed 
by  Government,  it  had  not  been  brought  into  market. 
I  gave  him  two  hundred  dollars  for  his  improvement 
and  his  claim ;  bought  some  stock,  and  rented  out  the 
improvement,  with  a  view  to  have  something  to  live 
on  in  the  fall  of  1824,  when  I  expected  to  move 
to  it. 

We  then  retraced  our  steps  homeward  through 
Springfield.  There  were  in  this  place,  now  the  seat 
of  government,  a  few  smoky,  hastily-built  cabins,  and 
one  or  two  very  little  shanties  called  "stores,"  and, 
with  the  exception  of  a  few  articles  of  heavy  ware,  I 
could  have  carried  at  a  few  loads  all  they  had  for  sale 
on  my  back.  When  we  returned  home  I  made  sale 
of  my  little  property,  all  with  a  special  view  to  our 
removal  in  1824;  and  at  the  conference,  whica  sat 


PETER   CAKT  WRIGHT.  247 

in  Shelbrville,  Kentucky,  I  asked  and  obtained  a 
transfer  to  the  Illinois  conference,  from  Bishop  Rob- 
erts, and  was  appointed  to  travel  the  Sangamoii 
circuit. 

Wheu  the  conference  adjourned,  and  I  was  about 
to  leave  the  body  of  preachers  of  the  Kentucky 
conference,  many  of  whom  I  had  labored  with  for 
ten,  fifteen,  or  twenty  years,  it  seemed  to  me  that 
I  never  felt  such  a  rush  of  feeling  before.  As  we 
took  the  parting  hand,  our  eyes  mutually  filled  with 
tears.  Few  of  us  ever  expected  to  meet  again  till 
we  meet  at  the  judgment-seat.  I  shook  their  hands, 
made  my  best  bow  to  the  brethren  of  the  Kentucky 
conference,  asked  an  interest  in  their  prayers,  and 
hastened  away  home;  and  in  a  few  days  all  my  little 
plunder  was  packed  up  and  my  family  mounted,  and 
we  started  for  Illinois. 

Although  the  Illinois  conference,  at  the  General 
conference,  had  been  stricken  off  from  Missouri  con- 
ference, yet  the  annual  meeting  this  fall  of  both  these 
conferences  was  to  be  held  at  Padfield's,  Looking- 
Glass  Prairie,  October  23,  1824.  It  was  my  intention 
to  meet  this  conference  on  my  Way  to  Sangamon 
county;  but  I  was  prevented  by  the  following  fatal 
accident  on  our  way.  Just  before  we  struck  the 
prairies,  the  man  that  drove  my  team  contrived  to 
turn  over  the  wagon,  and  was  very  near  killing  my 
oldest  daughter.  The  sun  was  just  going  down;  and 
by  t"he  time  we  righted  up  the  wagon  and  reloaded, 
it  was  getting  dark,  and  we  had  a  difficult  hill  to 
descend,  so  we  concluded  to  camp  there  for  the  night, 
almost  in  sight  of  two  cabins  containing  families.  I 
was  almost  exhausted  reloading  my  wagon ;  the  even- 
ing was  warm,  and  my  wife  persuaded  me  not  to 
stretch  our  tent  that  night ;  so  I  struck  fire,  and 


248  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

kindled  it  at  the  root  of  a,  small,  and,  as  I  thought, 
sound,  tree.     We  laid  down  and  slept  soundly. 

Just  as  day  Avas  appearing  in  the  east,  the  tree  at 
the  root  of  which  we  had  kindled  a  small  fire  fell,  and 
it  fell  on  our  third  daughter,  as  direct  on  her,  from 
er  feet  to  her  head,  as  it  could  fall ;  and  I  suppose 
he  never  breathed  after.  I  heard  the  tree  crack 
when  it  started  to  fall,  and  sprang,  alarmed  very 
much,  and  seized  it  before  it  struck  the  child;  but 
it  availed  nothing.  Although  this  was  an  awful 
calamity,  yet  God  was  kind  to  us;  for  if  we  had 
stretched  our  tent  that  night,  we  should  have  been 
obliged  to  lie  down  in  another  position,  and  in  that 
event  the  tree  Avould  have  fallen  directly  upon  us, 
and  we  should  all  have  been  killed  instead  of  one. 
The  tree  was  sound  outside  to  the  thickness  of  the 
back  of  a  carving  knife,  and  then  all  the  inside 
had  a  dry  rot ;  but  this  we  did  not  suspect.  I  sent 
my  teamster  to  those  families  near  at  hand  for  aid ; 
but  not  a  soul  would  come  nigh.  Here  we  were 
in  great  distress,  and  no  one  to  even  pity  our  condi 
tion.  My  teamster  and  myself  fell  to  cutting  the  tree 
off  the  child,  when  I  discovered  that  the  tree  had 
sprung  up,  and  did  not  press  the  child;  and  we  drew 
her  out  from  under  it,  and  carefully  laid  her  in  our 
feed  trough,  .and  moved  on  about  twenty  miles — to 
an  acquaintance's  in  Hamilton  county,  Illinois,  where 
we  buried  her. 

Here  I  will  state  a  fact  worthy  of  record.  There 
was  in  the  settlement  a  very  wicked  family,  total 
strangers  to  me  arid  mine.  The  old  gentleman  and 
two  sons  heard  of  our  affliction,  and  they  hastened  to 
our  relief,  and  every  act  of  kindness  that  they  pos- 
sibly could  do  us  was  rendered  with  undisguised  and 
undissemblcd  friendship;  and  they  would  on  no  ac- 


PETER   CART  WRIGHT.  249 

count  have  any  compensation.  This  was  true  friend- 
ship, and  it  endeared  them  to  me  in  a  most  affectionate 
manner.  I  met  and  conversed  with  them  years  after- 
ward; and,  although  they  are  now  dead  and  gone 
to  the  spirit-land,  I  hope  they  will  be  in  heaven 
rewarded  for  their  kindness  to  us  in  our  deep  and 
heart-rending  affliction;  for  surely  this  was  giving 
more  than  "a  cup  of  cold  water"  to  a  disciple.  By 
the  blessing  of  Providence,  we  prosecuted  our  jour- 
ney; and  on  the  15th  of  November,  1824,  we  arrived 
where  we  now  live. 

Sangamon  county  was  not  only  a  newly-settled  coun- 
try, but  embraced  a  large  region.  It  was  the  most 
northern  and  the  only  northern  county  organized  in 
the  state.  It  had  been  settled  by  a  few  hardy  and  en- 
terprising pioneers  but  a  few  years  before.  Just  north 
of  us  was  an  unbroken  Indian  country,  and  the  Indians 
would  come  in  by  scores  and  camp  on  the  Sanga- 
mon river  bottom,  and  hunt  and  live  there  through 
the  winter.  Their  frequent  visits  to  our  cabins  cre- 
ated sometimes  great  alarm  among  the  women  and 
children.  They  were  a  very  degraded  and  demoral- 
ized people,  and  the  white  people  were  very  much  to 
blame  in  dealing  out  the  fire-water  so  freely  among 
them.  But  the  whites  kept  advancing  further  and 
further  into  their  country,  and  the  Indians  kept  con- 
stantly receding  and  melting  away  before  their  rapid 
march,  till  they  are  now  mostly  removed  west  of  the 
Mississippi,  the  great  father  of  waters. 

The  Sangamon  circuit  had  been  formed  about 
three  years  when  I  came  to  it.  Brother  J.  Sims,  I 
think,  formed  the  circuit.  Brother  Rice  followed, 
and  J.  Miller,  of  one  of  the  Indiana  conferences, 
traveled  it  in  1823-4.  The  circuit  was  in  what  is 
called  the  Illinois  district,  Samuel  H.  Thompson 


260  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

presiding  elder.  I  found  about  two  hundred  and 
sixty  members  in  society.  The  circuit  embraced  all 
the  scattered  settlements  in  the  above-named  county, 
together  with  parts  of  Morgan  and  M'Lean  counties 
We  were  almost  entirely  without  ferries,  bridges,  or 
roads.  My  mode  of  traveling,  with  a  few  exceptions, 
was  to  go  from  point  to  point  of  timber,  through  the 
high  grass  of  the  prairie.  My  circuit  extended  to 
Blooming  Grove  in  M'Lean  county,  near  where  the 
city  of  Bloomington  now  stands.  A  few  fine  Meth- 
odist families  had  settled  in  this  grove;  some  local 
preachers  from  Sangamon  circuit  first  visited  them; 
then  Jesse  Walker,  who  was  appointed  missionary  to 
the  Indians  in  and  about  Fort  Clark  and  up  the  Illi- 
nois river  toward  Lake  Michigan.  I  took  it  into 
the  Sangamon  circuit,  and,  in  conjunction  with 
brother  Walker,  appointed  a  sacramental  meeting  at 
the  house  of  brother  Hendricks,  he  and  his  wife 
being  excellent  members  of  the  Church,  and  he  was 
appointed  class-leader.  Brother  Hendricks  has  long 
since  gone  to  his  reward,  while  sister  Hendricks  still 
lingers  among  us  a  shining  example  of  Christian 
piety. 

An  incident  occurred  at  this  sacramental  meeting 
worthy  of  note.  The  ordinance  of  baptism  was  de- 
sired by  some,  and  some  parents  wanted  their  chil- 
dren baptized,  and  the  brethren  desired  me  to  preach 
on  or  explain  the  nature  and  design  of  Christian  bap- 
tism. I  did  so  on  the  Sabbath.  There  was  present  a 
New  Light  preacher,  who  had  settled  ki  the  grove, 
and  was  a  very  great  stickler  for  immersion,  as  the 
only  proper  mode.  That  afternoon  there  arose  a  dark 
cloud,  and  presently  the  rain  fell  in  torrents,  and  con- 
tinued almost  all  night;  nearly  the  whole  face  of  the 
earth  was  covered  with  water;  the  streams  rose  sud- 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  251 

denly  and  overflowed  their  banks.  A  little  brook 
near  the  house  rose  so  rapidly  that  it  swept  away  the 
spring  house  and  some  of  the  fences.  Next  morning 
I  was  riding  up  the  grove  to  see  an  old  acquaintance, 
I  met  Mr.  Roads,  my  New  Light  preacher,  and  said, 
"Good  morning,  sir." 

"  Good  morning,"  he  replied. 

Said  I,  "We  have  had  a  tremendous  rain." 

"Yes,  sir,"  said  he;  "  the  Lord  sent  that  rain  to  con- 
vince you  of  your  error." 

"Ah!"  said  I,  "what  error T 

"Why,  about  baptism.  The  Lord  sent  this  flood  to 
convince  you  that  much  water  was  necessary/' 

"Very  good,  sir,"  said  I;  uand  he  in  like  manner 
sent  this  flood  to  convince  you  of  your  error." 

"What  error?"  said  he. 

"Why,"  said  I,  "  to  show  you  that  water  comes  by 
pouring  and  not  by  immersion." 

The  preacher  got  into  this  mad  fit  because  I  had 
satisfied  one  of  his  daughters  that  immersion  was  not 
the  proper  mode  of  baptism,  and  she  had  joined  the 
Methodists;  and  I  am  told  that  this  flood  to  this  day 
is  called  " Cartwright's  flood"  by  way  of  eminence; 
and  though  it  rained  hard,  and  my  New  Light 
preacher  preached  hard  against  us,  yet  he  made  little 
or  no  impression,  but  finally  evaporated  and  left  for 
parts  unknown.  His  New  Light  went  out  because 
there  was  "  no  oil  in  the  vessel." 

I  had  an  appointment  in  a  settlement  in  a  certain 
brother's  cabin.  He  had  a  first-rate  wife  and  severa 
interesting  daughters;  and  I  will  not  forget  to  say, 
had  some  three  hundred  dollars  hoarded  up  to  enter 
'and.  For  the  thin  settlement  we  had  a  good  congre- 
gation. The  meeting  closed,  and  there  was  but  one 
riair  in  the  house,  and  that  was  called  the  preacher's 


252  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

chair.  The  bottom  was  weak  and  worn  out,  and  one 
of  the  upright  back  pieces  was  broken  off".  We  had 
a  hewed  puncheon  for  a  table,  with  four  holes  in  it, 
and  four  straight  sticks  put  in  for  legs.  The  hearth 
was  made  of  earth,  and  in  the  center  of  it  was  a  deep 
hole,  worn  by  sweeping.  Around  this  hole  the 
women  had  to  cook,  which  was  exceedingly  incon- 
venient, for  they  had  no  kitchen.  When  we  came  to 
t  ie  table  there  were  wooden  trenchers  for  plates, 
sharp-pointed  pieces  of  cane  for  forks,  and  tin  cups 
for  cups  and  saucers.  There  was  but  one  knife  be- 
sides a  butcher  knife,  and  that  had  the  handle  off. 
Four  forks  were  driven  down  between  the  puncheons 
into  the  ground;  for  bedsteads,  cross  poles  or  side 
poles  put  in  those  forks,  and  clapboards  laid  crosswise 
for  cords.  The  old  sister  kept  up  a  constant  apology, 
and  made  many  excuses.  Now,  if  the  brother  had 
been  really  poor,  I  could  have  excused  every  thing; 
but,  knowing  he  had  money  hoarded  up,  I  thought  it 
my  duty  to  speak  to  him  on  the  subject.  I  was  at 
first  a  little  careful,  so  I  commenced  by  praising  his 
good-looking  daughters,  and  noticed  what  a  good 
cook  his  wife  was  if  she  had  any  chance.  "Now, 
brother,"  said  I,  "do  fill  up  this  hole  in  the  hearth, 
and  go  to  town  and  get  you  a  set  of  chairs,  knives 
and  forks,  cups  and  saucers,  and  get  you  a  couple  of 
plain  bedsteads  and  bed-cords.  Give  your  wife  and 
daughters  a  chance.  These  girls,  sir,  are  smart 
enough  to  marry  well,  if  you  Avill  fix  them  up  a 
little."  I  saw  in  a  moment  the  women  were  on  my 
side,  and  I  felt  safe.  The  old  brother  said  he  had 
seen  proud  preachers  before,  and  that  he  knew  I  was 
proud  the  moment  he  saw  me  with  my  broadcloth 
coat  on,  and  he  did  not  thank  me  for  meddling  with 
his  affairs. 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  253 

"Brother,"  said  I,  "you  have  been  a  member  of 
the  Church  a  long  time,  and  you  ought  to  know 
that  the  Discipline  of  our  Church  makes  it  the  duty 
of  a  circuit  preacher  to  recommend  cleanliness  and 
decency  every-where  \  and,  moreover,  if  there  was 
nothing  of  this  kind  in  the  Discipline  at  all,  my  good 
feelings  toward  you  and  your  family  prompt  me  to 
urge  these  things  on  you ;  and  you  ought  to  attend 
to  them  for  your  own  comfort  and  the  great  comfort 
of  your  family. 

The  old  sister  and  daughters  joined  with  me  in  all 
I  said. 

"Brother,"  said  I,  "you  have  two  fine  boys  here, 
and  they  will  help  you  do  up  things  in  a  little  better 
style ;  and  I  tell  you,  if  you  do  n't  do  it  by  the  time 
I  come  round  in  four  weeks,  I  shall  move  preaching 
from  your  cabin  somewhere  else." 

The  old  brother  told  me  I  could  move  preaching ; 
for  if  I  was  too  proud  to  put  up  with  his  fare,  he  did 
not  want  me  about  him.  I  went  on,  but  left  another 
appointment,  and  when  I  came  on  to  it,  I  tell  you 
things  were  done  up  about  right.  The  females  had 
taken  my  lecture  to  the  old  brother  for  a  text,  and 
they  had  preached  successfully  to  him,  for  the  hole 
in  the  hearth  was  filled  up,  two  new  bedsteads  were 
on  hand,  six  new  split-bottomed  chairs  were  pro- 
cured, a  new  set  of  knives  and  forks,  cups  and  sau- 
cers, and  plates,  were  all  on  hand.  The  women  met 
me  very  pleasantly,  and  the  old  brother  himself 
looked  better  than  usual;  and,  besides  all  this,  the 
women  all  had  new  calico  dresses,  and  looked  very 
neat.  We  had  a  good  congregation,  a  good  meeting, 
and  things  went  on  very  pleasantly  with  me  and  the 
whole  family  during  the  two  years  that  I  rode  the 
circuit.  And  better  than  all  this,  nearly  all  the 


254  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

children  obtained  religion  and  joined  the  Church,  and 
those  of  them  who  still  live  I  number  among  my  fast 
friends. 

On  Horse  creek  we  had  an  appointment,  and  a 
good  society.  Old  brother  Joseph  Dixon  was  class- 
leader  and  steward.  I  think  he  was  one  of  the  best 
stewards  I  ever  saw.  The  country  was  new ;  our 
little  market  was  at  St.  Louis,  distant  one  hundred 
miles  or  more;  and  some  of  the  people  had  to  go 
sixty  miles  for  their  grinding  and  breadstuff;  and 
this  country  was  generally  settled  with  poor,  but 
very  kind  people ;  money  was  very  scarce,  and  what 
little  there  was,  was  generally  kept  close  to  enter 
lands  when  our  Congress  should  order  sales  ;  almost 
universally  we  were  settled  on  Congress  or  Govern- 
ment lands.  In  this  condition  of  affairs,  the  support 
of  a  traveling  preacher  was  exceedingly  small.  The 
first  year  I  traveled  the  Sangamon  circuit  with  a  wife 
and  six  children,  I  received  forty  dollars  all  told ;  the 
second  year  I  received  sixty.  This  was  considered  a 
great  improvement  in  our  financial  affairs.  I  state 
these  things  that  the  reader  may  see  the  extreme 
difficulties  our  early  preachers  had  to  contend  with. 
The  round  before  each  quarterly  meeting,  brother 
Dixon,  the  steward,  would  take  his  horse  and  accom- 
pany the  predcher,  and  after  preaching,  and  the  class 
had  met,  he  would  rise  and  call  on  the  Church  for 
their  aid  in  supporting  the  Gospel.  He  invariably 
made  it  a  rule  to  see  that  every  member  of  his  own 
class  paid  something  every  quarter  to  support  tho 
Gospel,  and  if  there  were  any  too  poor  to  pay,  he 
would  pay  for  them. 

Brother  D.  had  been  a  real  backwoodsman,  a  front- 
ier settler,  a  great  hunter  and  trapper  to  take  furs. 
Among  other  early  and  enterprising  trappers,  he  pie- 


PETER   CART  WRIGHT.  255 

pared  himself  for  a  hunting  and  trapping  expedition 
up  the  Missouri  river  and  its  tributaries,  which  at 
that  early  day  was  an  unbroken  Indian  country,  and 
many  of  them  hostile  to  the  whites.  He  made  him- 
self a  canoe  or  dug-out,  to  ascend  the  rivers,  laid  in 
his  traps,  ammunition,  and  all  the  necessary  fixtures 
for  such  a  trip,  and  he  and  two  other  partners  slowly 
ascended  the  Missouri.  After  ascending  this  stream 
for  hundreds  of  miles,  and  escaping  many  dangerous 
ambuscades  of  the  Indians,  winter  came  on  with 
great  severity.  They  dug  in  the  ground  and  buried 
their  furs  and  skins  at  different  points,  to  keep  them 
from  being  stolen  by  the  Indians.  They  then  dug  a 
deep  hole  on  the  sunny  side  of  a  hill,  gathered  their 
winter  meat  and  fuel,  their  leaves  and  grass,  and  car- 
ried them  into  the  hole,  and  took  up  their  winter  quar- 
ters. The  snows  were  very  deep,  the  weather  intensely 
cold;  but  they  wintered  in  comparative  safety  till 
returning  spring,  which  they  hailed  with  transports 
of  joy.  They  were  robbed  several  times  by  the 
Indians,  had  several  battles  with  them,  and  killed 
two  or  three  of  them.  The  next  fall  his  partners  fell 
out  with  him,  bought  a  canoe  of  the  Indians,  left  him 
alone,  descended  the  river,  dug  up  their  furs,  and 
returned  home.  Dixon  fortunately  secured  most  of 
the  ammunition  they  had  on  hand.  He  again  found 
a  dreaded  winter  approaching.  He  resorted  to  the 
former  winter's  experiment,  and  dug  his  cave  in  the 
side  of  a  steep  hill,  laid  up  his  winter  provisions,  and 
took  up  his  winter  quarters  all  alone.  In  this  peril- 
ous condition  his  eyes  became  inflamed,  and  were 
very  much  affected  from  constant  gazing  on  the  almost 
perpetual  snows  around  him,  till,  such  was  their  dis- 
eased state,  he  could  not  see  any  thing.  Here  he  was 
utterly  helpless  and  hopeless.  He  began  to  reflect 


256  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

on  his  dreadful  condition,  while  he  felt  nothing  but 
certain  death,  and  realized  himself  to  be  a  great  sin- 
ner and  unprepared  to  die.  For  the  first  time  in  hi? 
life,  almost,  he  kneeled  down  and  asked  God  for  mer- 
cy and  deliverance  from  this  awful  condition.  Then 
and  there  he  promised  God  if  he  would  spare  and 
deliver  him,  he  would  from  that  solemn  moment  serve 
him  faithfully  the  rest  of  his  life.  This  promise  he 
told  me  he  had  faithfully  kept ;  and  there  is  not  in  my 
mind  a  single  doubt  but  he  kept  his  covenant  till  he 
veas  safely  housed  in  heaven. 

When  he  made  this  covenant  with  God  in  his  des- 
perate condition,  all  of  a  sudden  there  was  a  strong 
impression  made  on  his  mind  that  if  he  would  take 
the  inside  bark  of  a  certain  tree  that  stood  a  few 
steps  from  the  mouth  of  his  earthy  habitation,  and 
beat  it  up  soft  and  fine,  soak  it  in  water,  and  wash 
his  eyes  with  it,  he  would  soon  recover  his  sight.  He 
groped  his  way  to  the  tree,  got  the  bark,  prepared  it 
as  impressed,  bathed  his  eyes,  bound  some  of  this 
bark  to  them,  and  laid  down  and  slept,  not  knowing 
whether  it  was  day  or  night.  When  he  awoke  his 
eyes  felt  easy;  the  inflammation  was  evidently  sub- 
siding, and  in  a  short  time- his  sight  began  to  return, 
and  soon  was  entirely  restored.  When  he  gained  con- 
fidence in  his  restoration  to  sight  he  fell  on  his  knees 
to  return  thanks  to  God;  a  sweet  and  heavenly  peace 
run  all  through  his  soul,  and  he  then  and  there,  all 
alone,  shouted  aloud  the  high  praises  of  God.  He 
then  felt  that  God  had  forgiven  his  sins,  blessed  his 
soul,  restored  his  sight,  and  that  he  ought  to  praise 
and  give  glory  to  his  holy  name. 

When  the  weather  opened  for  trapping  he  said  he 
had  astonishing  good  luck  ;  took  a  great  amount  of 
the  very  best  furs;  and  collecting  them,  began  to  de 


PETER   CAKTWRIGDT.  257 

sccnd  the  river.  lie  had  an  Indian  village  to  pass  on 
the  bank  of  the  river,  and  as  they  were  a  deceitful, 
sly,  bad  tribe  of  Indians,  he  determined  to  keep  his 
canoe  as  far  from  their  shore  as  possible.  They 
made  many  friendly  signs  for  him  to  stop,  so  he  con- 
cluded to  land  and  trade  a  little  with  them.  He  had 
his  rifle  well  loaded,  and  was  a  Tery  strong  man1 
When  his  canoe  struck  the  bank  a  large,  stout  Indian 
jumped  into  it,  and  others  were  following.  He  ac- 
cordingly shoved  off,  when  one  on  the  bank  raised 
his  rifle  and  aimed  to  shoot  him.  As  quick  as  thought. 
Dixon  jerked  the  Indian  that  was  in  the  canoe  be- 
tween him  and  the  other  that  raised  his  rifle ;  the  gun 
fired,  and  lodged  its  contents  in  the  heart  of  the  large 
Indian  in  the  canoe,  who  fell  overboard  dead.  Dixon 
paddled  with  all  speed  down  the  river,  and  escaped 
being  robbed  or  killed.  When  he  returned  to  St. 
Louis  he  sold  his  furs  for  several  thousand  dollars,  and 
returned  to  his  family,  after  having  been  absent  nearly 
three  years.  He.  then  packed  up,  moved  to  Horse 
creek,  in  Sangamon  county,  took  preaching  into  his 
cabin,  joined  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and 
continued  to  be  a  faithful  member,  leader,  and  stew- 
ard for  many  years.  His  children  mostly  grew  up, 
married,  and  left  him;  his  most  excellent  wife  at 
length  died,  witnessing  a  good  confession;  his  young- 
est son  he  named  Missouri,  in  memory  of  his  conver- 
sion on  the  trapping  expedition  up  that  turbid  stream, 
and  also  to  keep  fresh  in  his  recollection  the  solemn 
vow  he  had  made  in  his  perilous  condition.  After 
the  death  of  his  wife  he  lingered  a  few  years,  and 
then  died  in  peace,  at  his  daughter's  in  Morgan 
county. 

It  may  be  gratifying  to  some  to  see  what  has  grown 

out  of  what  was  within  the  bounds  of  the  old  San- 
17 


258  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

pnraon  circuit  in  1824-5.  There  is  Boardstown  sta 
tion,  Virginia  circuit,  Havana  circuit,  Delavan  mis- 
sion, East  and  West  charges  in  Bloomington,  Ran- 
dolph's Grove  circuit,  Wayncsville  circuit,  Mount 
IMeasant  circuit,  Clinton,  Honey  Creek,  Mount  1'u- 
laski,  Decatur  station  and  circuit,  Taylorsville,  Sul- 
phur Spring,  Virden  Island  Grove,  and  Springfield 
station.  Thus  the  old  hive  has  sent  forth  twenty 
swarms,  and  still  retains  its  old  name,  Sangamon. 
Perhaps  this  circuit  has  retained  its  first  name  longer 
than  any  circuit  in  the  state  or  conference.  At  the 
close  of  my  second  year  I  returned  four  hundred 
members,  being  an  increase,  in  two  years,  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty.  At  our  conference  in  Charles- 
town,  Indiana,  August  25,  1825,  Bishop  M'Kendrce 
attended  and  presided;  and  I  was  reappointed  to 
Sangamon  circuit.  At  the  time  of  this  conference 
I  was  taken  down  with  a  violent  attack  of  bilious 
fever.  Three  friendly  doctors  attended  me.  They 
succeeded  in  stopping  the  fever.  My  doctor  advised 
me  to  travel  homeward  slowly,  and  only  a  few  miles 
a  day,  till  I  gained  strength,  and  to  take  good  care 
of  myself.  Some  of  the  preachers  secured  a  preacher 
acquainted  with  the  country  through  which  I  had  to 
pass,  to  go  with  and  take  care  of  me,  for  I  was  very 
feeble.  This  preacher  was  under  marriage  contract, 
and  the  day  set  for  the  ceremony,  but  I  knew  it  not. 
The  first  day  we  rode  twenty-eight  miles.  I  urged 
him  to  stop  long  before  we  did.  But  no;  he  knew  of 
a  Judge  Somebody,  a  fine  Methodist,  and  a  good 
place,  etc. ;  he  lived  in  the  west  end  of  a  little  town. 
As  we  passed  the  tavern  I  urged  the  preacher  again  to 
Btop;  but  no,  he  rode  up  to  the  judge's,  told  my  name 
and  condition,  but  he  would  not  take  us  in.  There 
waa  present  a  kind-hearted  man,  who,  on  learning  my 


PETER   CARTWRIGHT.  259 

condition,  took  me  home  with  him  and  treated  me 
veil.  Next  morning  we  started  on,  and  when  we  got 
intc  another  little  town,  having  rode  that  day  twenty 
miles,  I  begged  my  preacher  to  let  me  stop.  "  0  no, 
no,"  said^  he ;  "  there  is  a  fine  place  three  miles  down 
here ;  we  must  get  there."  At  that  moment  I  saw  a 
doctor  who  had  been  a  traveling  preacher  ia  Ken- 
tucky, and  I  knew  him  and  called  to  him,  and  begged 
him  to  take  me  somewhere  that  I  could  rest.  I  then 
told  my  preacher  guide  to  move  on  and  move  off,  for 
certainly  I  would  not  travel  with  him  a  step  further. 
So  he  left,  and  the  doctor  took  me  home  with  him, 
and  treated  me  kindly.  On  Sunday  morning  he  took 
me  a  few  miles  up  the  country,  on  Honey  ere  3k,  to 
a  camp  meeting  that  was  in  progress.  Here  I  tarried 
and  rested  awhile.  I  was  aiming  to  cross  the  Wa- 
bash,  and  get  to  J.  W.  M'Reynolds's,  near  Paris. 

The  day  I  left  the  camp  meeting  my  fever  returned, 
just  while  I  was  crossing  Honey  Creek  Prairie.  It 
seemed  to  me  I  should  die  for  want  of  water,  there 
being  no  house  on  the  road.  I  was  immensely  sick, 
and  the  day  was  intensely  warm.  At  length  I  found 
a  little  green  bush  that  afforded  a  small  shade.  Here 
I  lay  down  to  die.  I  saw  a  house  a  little  way  off, 
over  a  field,  but  was  unable  to  get  to  it.  In  a  few 
minutes  a  lady  rode  up  to  me,  and  although  I  had 
not  seen  her  for  twenty  years,  I  instantly  knew  her, 
and  she  recognized  me,  and  after  a  few  minutes  she 
rode  off  briskly  after  help. 

In  a  little  time  there  came  a  man  and  buggy,  and 
a  small  boy.  The  boy  mounted  my  horse.  The  man 
helped  me  into  the  buggy,  and  drove  up  to  his  house, 
and  took  me  in,  and  placed  me  on  a  bed  between  two 
ioors,  where  I  had  a  free  circulation  of  air.  This 
*;is  the  house  where  the  lady  lived.  The  man  was 


2(50  AUTOBIOU  K  A  1'  II  Y    OF 

her  husband.  They  took  all  possible  care  of  me  till  1 
got  a  little  better,  then  I  started,  and  got  safe  to 
brother  M'Reynolds's.  And  now  I  had  the  Grand 
Prairie  to  cross,  ninety  miles  through.  To  go  alone 
seemed  out  of  the  question,  and  brother  Mac's  family 
was  not  in  a  situation  for  him  safely  to  leave,  and 
carry  me  in  a  carriage  through;  but  he  said  he  would 
go,  as  I  must  not  go  alone* 

We  arranged  to  start  next  morning  early;  and  just 
as  \ve  were  about  leaving,  I  saw  a  carriage  with  a 
span  of  horses  drive  up  to  the  steps  with  three  per- 
sons, and  who  should  they  be  but  brother  and  sister 
Springer,  my  neighbors,  and  my  wife,  who  had  heard 
of  my  sickness,  and  had  come  to  convey  me  home. 

A  bed  was  placed  in  the  carriage,  and  we  started. 
There  was  but  one  house  for  eighty  miles  across  this 
Grand  Prairie,  and  no  water  but  a  few  ponds.  I 
thought  that  these  two  days  that  we  were  crossing  I 
should  surely  die  for  the  want  of  good  water.  I  drank 
freely  of  these  ponds,  and  it  made  me  very  sick  every 
time ;  and  I  threw  off  great  quantities  of  bile,  and  this, 
perhaps,  saved  my  life.  After  all  my  fever  abated, 
I  gradually  grew  better,  and  finally  recovered  my 
wonted  health. 

We  had  a  glorious  camp  meeting  this  year  on  what 
was  called  Waters's  Camp-Ground,  on  Spring  creek, 
six  miles  west  of  Springfield.  It  lasted  five  days  and 
nights.  Over  forty  professed  religion,  and  joined  the 
Church;  and  the  circuit  generally  was  in  a  healthy 
condition. 

The  country  this  year  settled  up  very  rapidly,  and 
improvements  went  up  equally  as  rapid  in  almost 
every  direction. 


PETER    CARTWRIOIIT.  261 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

POLITICAL     LIFE. 

OUR  conference  met  in  Bloomington,  Indiana, 
Sept.  28,  1826.  Bishop  Soule  and  Bishop  Roberts 
attended  and  presided.  S.  H.  Thompson's  time  on  the 
Illinois  district  having  expired,  he  was  appointed  to 
the  Illinois  circuit,  and  I  was  appointed  to  succeed 
him  in  the  district,  which  was  composed  of  the  follow- 
ing circuits,  or  appointments:  Illinois,  Kaskaskia, 
Shoal  Creek,  Sangamon,  Peoria,  Mississippi,  Atlaa, 
and  the  Pottawattomie  mission.  This  district  thus 
extended  from  Kaskaskia  river  to  the  extreme 
northern  settlements,  and  even  to  the  Pottawattomie 
nation  of  Indians,  on  Fox  river;  up  that  river  into 
the  heart  of  the  nation.  And  there  were  only  about 
three  thousand  members  of  the  Church  in  it,  and  only 
half  of  another  presiding-elder  district  in  the  state. 
The  Wabash  district,  Charles  Holliday  presiding 
elder,  lay  on  the  west  side  of  the  Wabash  river,  in 
Illinois,  and  on  the  east  side  of  that  river,  in  Indiana. 

The  following  appointments  were  in  Illinois  :  Mount 
Carmel,  Wabash,  Carmi,  Mount  Vernon,  and  Cash 
river,  with  a  membership  of  about  thirteen  hun- 
dred and  fifty ;  a  little  over  four  thousand  in  the  entire 
state.  My  district  was  four  hundred  miles  long, 
and  covered  all  the  west  side  of  the  Grand  Prairie, 
fully  two-thirds  of  the  geographical  boundaries  of  the 
state.  The  year  before  I  moved  to  the  state  there 
had  been  a  strong  move,  by  a  corrupt  and  demoral- 


2«2  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

ized  Legislature  to  call  a  convention  with  a  view  to 
alter  the  Constitution,  so  as  to  admit  slavery  into  the 
state.  I  had  left  Kentucky  on  account  of  slavery, 
and,  as  I  hoped,  had  hid  a  final  farewell  to  all  slave 
institutions ;  but  the  subject  was  well  rife  through  the 
country;  for,  although  the  friends  of  human  liberty 
had  sustained  themselves,  and  carried  the  election  by 
more  than  one  thousand  votes,  yet  it  was  feared  that 
the  advocates1  of  slavery  would  renew  the  effort, 
and  yet  cause  this  "abomination  of  desolation  to 
stand  where  it  ought  not."  I  very  freely  entered  the 
lists  to  oppose  slavery  in  this  way,  and  without  any 
forethought  of  mind  went  into  the  agitated  waters  of 
political  strife.  I  was  strongly  solicited  to  become  a 
candidate  for  a  seat  in  the  Legislature  of  our  state. 
I  consented,  and  was  twice  elected  as  representative 
from  Sangamon  county. 

But  I  say,  without  any  desire  to  speak  evil  of  the 
rulers  of  the  people,  I  found  a  great  deal  of  corrup- 
tion in  our  Legislature;  and  I  found  that  almost 
every  measure  had  to  be  carried  by  a  corrupt  bargain 
and  sale;  which  should  cause  every  honest  man  to 
blush  for  his  country. 

The  great  national  parties  were  now  organized,  anJ, 
as  my  honest  sentiments  placed  me  in  the  minority 
in  my  county,  of  course  I  retired  frorc  politics.  But 
I  say  now,  if  the  people  would  not  be  led  by  party 
considerations,  but  would  select  honest  and  capable 
men,  I  can  not  see  the  impropriety  of  canvassing  for 
office  on  Christian  principles. 

There  is  an  incident  or  two  connected  with  my 
little  political  experience,  that  I  will  give: 

The  first  time  I  ran  for  office  in  Sangamon  county, 
I  was  on  tbe  north  side  of  the  Sangamon  river,  as 
we  say  in  the  east,  electioneering  or  rather  trying  to 


PETER    CARTWRIGIIT.  263 

get  acquainted  with  the  people,  for  I  was  at  that 
early  day  a  great  stranger  to  many  of  them.  Pass- 
ing through  a  bushy  point  of  undergrowth,  near  a 
ferry  where  I  intended  to  cross  the  river,  I  heard 
just  before  me  some  one  talking  very  loud.  I  reined 
my  horse  to  listen.  I  heard  some  one  say  that  Peter 
Cartwright  was  a  d — d  rascal ;  and  so  were  all  Method- 
ist preachers ;  they  would  all  steal  horses,  and  that  it 
was  a  scandal  to  the  country  that  such  a  man  as 
Cart wright  should  offer  for  a  representative  of  the 
county;  and  that  the  first  time  he  saw  him  he  in- 
tended to  whip  him  for  his  impudence.  This  sur- 
prised me  a  little,  and  I  looked  round  for  some  way 
to  pass  without  coming  in  contact  with  this  com- 
pany ;  but  there  was  no  path  that  I  could  see,  and  the 
brush  was  so  thick  I  could  not  get  through.  So  I 
summoned  all  my  courage,  and  rode  boldly  up,  and 
spoke  to  the  man.  There  were  six  of  them;  and,  as 
I  learned,  but  one  of  them  had  ever  seen  me.  So  I 
said  :  "  Gentlemen,  who  is  it  among  you  that  is  going 
to  whip  Cartwright  the  first  time  you  see  him  ?" 
The  man  who  had  threatened  spoke  out  and  said :  "  I 
am  the  lark  that 's  going  to  thrash  him  well."  Said 
I :  "  Cartwright  is  known  to  be  much  of  a  man,  and  it 
will  take  a  man  to  whip  him,  mind  you."  "0  !  no," 
said  he;  "  I  can  whip  any  Methodist  preacher  the 
Lord  ever  made."  "Well,  sir,"  said  I,  "you  can  not 
do  it ;  and  now  I  tell  you  my  name  is  Cartwright,  and 
I  never  like  to  live  in  dread;  if  you  really  intend  to 
whip  me,  come  and  do  it  now." 

He  looked  a  little  confused,  and  said,  "  0  !  you 
can't  fool  me  that  way  ;  you  are  not  Cartwright." 

"  Well,"  said  T,  "that  is  my  name,  and  I  am  a  candi- 
date for  the  Legislature,  and  now  is  your  time  *  if, 
you  must  whip  me,  do  it  now." 


264  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

He  said,  "  No,  no,  you  are  not  Cartwright  at  all ; 
you  only  want  to  fool  me." 

By  this  time  we  had  moved  slowly  to  the  boat,  and 
when  we  got  on  it,  he  broke  out  in  a  fresh  volley  ot 
curses  on  Cartwright.  I  said  to  a  gentleman  on  the 
boat,  "  Here,  hold  my  horse  ;"  and  stepping  up  to  this 
cursing  disciple,  I  said  sternly  to  him,  "  Now,  sir,  you 
have  to  whip  me  as  you  threatened,  or  "quit  cursing  me, 
or  I  will  put  you  in  the  river,  and  baptize  you  in  the 
name  of  the  devil,  for  surely  you  belong  to  him." 
This  settled  him;  and  strange  to  say,  when  the  election 
came  off,  he  went  to  the  polls  and  voted  for  me,  and 
ever  afterward  was  my  warm  and  constant  friend. 

Take  another  instance  of  what  an  honest  man  has 
to  bear,  if  he  mixes  in  the  muddy  waters  of  political 
strife;  and  what  powerful  temptations  it  throws  in  his 
way  to  do  wrong,  and  thereby  wound  his  tender  con- 
science, if  he  has  any.  There  was  a  man,  whom  I 
never  knowingly  saw,  and  he  did  not  know  me  by 
sight,  as  I  clearly  proved.  At  a  large  gathering  in 
Springfield,  he  stated  that  he  had  lived  my  neighbor 
in  Kentucky,  and  that  he  saw,  and  heard  me  offer  to 
swear  off  a  plain  note  of  my  indebtedness  ;  and  this 
statement  was  gaining  and  spreading  like  wildfire. 
Those  opposed  to  my  election  were  chuckling  over  it 
at  a  mighty  rate;  some  of  my  friends  came  to  me 
and  told  me  of  it,  and  said,  I  must  meet  it  and  stop 
t,  or  it  would  defeat  my  election.  Said  I : 

"Gentlemen,  if  you  will  take  me  to,  and  show  me 
this  man,  I  will  give  you  clear  demonstration  that  his 
statements  are  false." 

So  a  crowd  gathered  around  me,  and  I  walked  ujr 
to  the  public  square  where  this  man  was  defaming  me. 
I  said  to  the  company,  "Take  me  right  up  to  the 
man,  and  I  will  show  you  that  he  never  saw  me,  and 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  265 

never  knew  inc."  They  did  so ;  and  when  we  came 
to  him,  one  said  to  me,  "  This  is  Mr.  G." 

Looking  him  in  the  eye,  said  I,  "Well,  sir,  I  want 
to  know  something  about  this  lying  report  you  have 
been  circulating  about  me."  There  was  a  large  crowd 
gathered  around. 

"  Who  are  you,  sir  ?"  said  he.     "  I  do  n't  know  you." 

"Did  you  ever  see  me  before?" 

"No,  sir,  not  that  I  know  of." 

"Well,  sir,  my  name  is  Peter  Cartwright,  about 
•whom  you  have  circulated  the  lying  statement  that  I, 
in  your  presence,  in  Kentucky,  offered  to  swear  off  a 
plain  note  of  my  indebtedness ;  and  I  have  proved  to 
this  large  and  respectable  company  that  you  are  a 
lying,  dirty  scoundrel;  and  now,  if  you  do  not  here 
acknowledge  yourself  a  liar  and  a  dirty  fellow,  I  will 
sweep  the  streets  with  you  to  your  heart's  content; 
and  do  it  instantly,. or  I  will  give  you  a  chastisement 
that  you  will  remember  to  your  latest  day." 

The  crowd  shouted,  "Down  him,  down  him,  Cart- 
wright;  he  ought  to  catch  it." 

After  the  crowd  was  a  little  stilled,  my  accuser  said, 
"Well,  gentlemen,  I  acknowledge  that  I  have  done 
Mr.  Cartwright  great  injustice,  and  have,  without  any 
just  cause,  lied  on  him."  At  this  the  crowd  gave 
three  cheers  for  Cartwright. 

Now,  you  see,  gentle  reader,  the  muddy  waters  that 
a  candidate  for  office  in  our  free  country  has  to  wade 
through ;  and  well  may  we  pray,  "  Lead  us  not  into 
temptation,  but  deliver  us  from  evil." 

I  will  relate  an  incident  that  occurred  in  the  Legis- 
lature. After  we  were  sworn  in  as  members  of  that 
body,  there  was  a  flippant,  loquacious  lawyer,  elected 
from  Union  county.  He  was  a  pretty  speaker,  but  not 
very  profound,  and  had  a  very  high  opinion  of  his 


2(>6  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 

own  tact  and  talent,  lie  was  also  a  great  aspirant, 
and  had  a  thirst  for  popularity,  arid  there  were 
several  congregations  of  Dunkers,  or  Seventh-day 
Baptists,  in  the  district.  This  lawyer  represented  that 
they  kept  Saturday  for  the  Christian  Sabbath,  and 
thought,  or  professed  to  think,  it  was  altogether  wrong 
that  they  should  pay  taxes,  work  on  roads,  perform 
military  duty,  or  serve  on  juries,  etc.,  etc.,  etc. 

He  wanted  to  have  a  law  passed,  favoring  them  in 
all  these  particulars,  and  thus  exclusively  legislating 
for  their  particular  benefit,  thereby  malting  a  relig- 
ious test,  and  making  a  sectarian  distinction,  and 
legislating  for  their  pretended  scruples  of  conscience. 
He  accordingly  introduced  a  bill  for  their  special 
benefit.  I  opposed  the  passage  of  the  bill,  and  briefly 
remarked,  that,  as  a  nation,  we  all  acknowledged  Sun- 
day as  the  Christian  Sabbath,  and  that  there  ought  to 
be  no  distinctions  in  Churches,  or  among  the  people; 
and  as  to  bearing  arms,  that  the  people  who  were  un- 
willing to  take  up  arms  in  the  defense  of  their  country, 
were  unworthy  of  the  protection  of  the  government; 
and  as  for  not  working  on  roads,  if  there  were  any 
unwilling  to  work  on  roads,  they  should  not  be  allow- 
ed the  privilege  of  traveling  them;  as  to  serving  on 
juries,  if  any  body  was  unwilling  to  serve  on  them, 
he  ought  to  be  deprived  the  privilege  of  having  the 
right  of  trial  by  jury ;  and  if  there  were  any  unwilling 
to  pay  taxes  to  support  government,  they  should  be 
declared  outlaws,  and  denied  the  protection  of  govern- 
ment. The  representative  from  Union,  at  this,  flew 
into  a  mighty  rage,  and,  instead  of  arguing  the  case, 
began  to  eulogi/e  the  Dunkers,  and  drew  a  contrast 
between  them  and  the  Methodists.  He  said  the  Dun- 
kers were  an  honest,  industrious,  hard-working  people; 
their  preachers  worked  for  their  own  support;  there 


PETERCARTWRIGIIT.  '2^7 

«as-  nc  hypocritical  begging  among  them;  no  carry- 
ing the  hat  round  in  the  congregation  for  public  col- 
lections, and  hypocritical  whining  among  them  for 
support,  as  was  always  to  be  seen  among  Methodist 
preachers.  Thus  he  laid  on  thick  and  fast.  It  was 
my  good  fortune  to  know,  that  a  few  years  before, 
this  same  lawyer  was  a  candidate  for  Congress,  and 
the  lamented  S.  H.  Thompson  was  the  presiding  elder, 
and  his  district  covered  the  congressional  district  this 
lawyer  desired  to  represent ;  and  as  brother  Thomp- 
son was  very  popular  among  the  people,  and  had  a 
number  of  camp  and  quarterly  meetings  in  the  bounds 
of  this  congressional  district,  this  said  lawyer  had 
pretended  to  be  serious  on  the  subject  of  religion ;  and 
here  he  followed  brother  Thompson  from  appointment 
to  appointment,  appearing  to  be  very  much  concerned 
about  religion,  threw  in  liberally  at  every  public  col- 
lection, offering  to  carry  the  hat  round  himself  when 
collections  were  taken. 

When  he  closed  his  tirade  of  abuse,  I  rose  and  said, 
"  Mr.  Speaker,  I  award  to  the  gentleman  from  Union 
the  honor  of  being  one  of  the  best  judges  of  hypoc- 
risy in  all  the  land;"  and  then  narrated  the  above 
facts.  He  rose  and  called  me  to  order;  but  the 
Speaker  said  I  was  in  order,  and  directed  him  to  sit 
down.  Presently,  he  rose  again,  and  said  if  I  was 
not  called  to  order  he  would  knock  me  down  at  the 
bar.  The  Speaker  again  pronounced  me  in  order,  and 
bade  me  proceed.  I  finished  my  speech,  and  left  my 
mark  on  this  belligerent  son  of  the  law. 

^Tien  we  adjourned  our  clerk  told  me  to  be  on  my 
guard ;  that  he  heard  this  lawyer  say,  the  moment  I 
stepped  out  of  the  State  House  door  he  intended  to 
whip  me.  I  walked  out  and  stepped  up  to  him,  and 
asked,  "Are  you  for  peace  or  war?" 


268  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

"0,"  said  he,  "for  peace;  come,  go  home  with  me 
and  take  tea." 

We  locked  arras,  and  I  went.  When  we  got  there 
we  found  the  Governor  and  his  lady,  and  a  number  of 
genteel  people.  We  sat  down  to  tea,  and  I  found 
they  were  going  to  eat  with  graceless  indifference. 
Said  I,  "  Governor,  ask  a  blessing."  He  blushed, 
apologized,  and  begged  me  to  do  it.  I  did  so;  and 
then  remarked  that  I  had  called  on  his  excellency  by 
way  of  reproof,  for  I  thought  the  Governor  ought  to 
be  a  good  man  and  set  a  better  example.  He  readily 
admitted  all  I  said  to  be  true  ;  and  this  was  the  last 
time  during  the  session  that  I  ate  at  any  of  their 
houses  without  being  requested  to  ask  a  blessing. 

At  a  quarterly  meeting  I  held  in  Kaskaskia  in 
1827,  an  incident  occurred  which  I  will  relate.  S.  L. 
Robinson  and  A.  E.  Phelps  were  the  circuit  preach- 
ers, both  of  whom  have  passed  away,  witnessing  a 
good  confession.  E.  Roberts  and  Colonel  Mather 
lived  in  Kaskasia  at  this  time;  and  although  neither 
of  them  was  a  professor  of  religion,  yet  they  were 
both  friendly  to  religion,  and  treated  Methodist 
preachers  with  great  kindness.  We  staid  with  them 
during  the  quarterly  meeting;  and  although  neither 
of  them  was  a  drinking  man,  yet  they  sometimes 
took  a  little  rum;  so  also  did  Methodist  and  other 
preachers.  These  two  men,  in  all  kindness,  poured 
out  some  wine,  as  they  supposed,  into  glasses,  and 
Bent  it  round  in  a  waiter  to  us  preachers,  but  through 
mistake  it  happened  to  be  brandy.  The  most  of  the 
preachers  turned  off  their  wine  as  was  supposed,  and 
they  did  it  so  suddenly  and  unsuspiciously,  the  mis- 
take was  not  detected  till  it  was  drank.  For- 
tunately for  me,  I  got  the  smell  of  the  brandy,  and 
held  back  from  drinking  at  all. 


PETER    CAKTWBIGHT.  269 

Said  I,  "  Gentlemen,  this  is  brandy  as  sure  as  you 
live." 

Mr.  Roberts  and  Mr.  Mather  were  greatly  surprised 
at  their  mistake,  and  were  mortified.  The  preachers 
who  had  drank  their  brandy  through  mistake  were 
alarmed,  fearing  they  would  be  intoxicated,  being  so 
little  in  the  habit  of  using  ardent  spirits.  No  serious 
intoxication  was  the  result  of  this  mistake;  but  how 
much  better  it  would  have  been  wholly  to  abstain 
from  all,  and  then  these  accidents  would  never  happen. 
Suppose  any,  or  all  of  us,  through  this  mistake,  had 
become  intoxicated,  what  a  dreadful  reproach  we 
would  have  caused  to  religion,  and  the  worthy  name 
of  Christ  would  have  been  blasphemed  through  an 
idle,  not  to  say  sinful  habit. 

The  last  year  brother  Thompson  was  on  this  dis- 
trict, it  being  very  large,  he  requested  me  to  attend 
some  of  his  quarterly  meetings,  and,  among  others,  I 
attended  one  in  Green  county,  near  what  is  now 
called  Whitehall.  John  Kirkpatrick,  a  local  preacher 
from  the  Sangamon  circuit,  went  down  and  arrived 
there  a  little  before  me.  When  I  came  he  approached 
me  and  said, 

"Brother,  I  sincerely  pity  you  from  my  very 
heart." 

"Why,  what  's  the  matter?" 

"The  people  have  heard  that  you  are  one  of  the 
greatest  preachers  in  the  west,  and  their  expecta- 
tions are  on  tiptoe,  and  no  bishop  could  satisfy  them ; 
but  do  your  best." 

These  statements  somewhat  disconcerted  me,  though 
I  never  was  very  anxious  to  gratify  idle  curiosity;  I 
knew  my  help  must  come  from  God,  and  unless  the 
Lord  helped  me,  every  effort  would  be  vain;  but  if 
God  would  help  me,  I  asked  no  other  aid.  At  length 


270  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

the  hour  arrived,  and  I  rose  in  the  stand,  and  trird 
to  preach  the  best  I  knew  how.  The  people  gave  me 
their  kind  attention,  but  I  saw  in  their  countenances 
they  were  disappointed.  During  the  intermission 
brother  Kirkpa trick  came  to  me  and  said, 

"I  told  you  so;  you  have  fallen  several  degrees 
under  the  people's  expectations.  You  must  try 
again." 

Accordingly,  on  Sunday  I  took  the  stand,  and  tried 
to  look  wise,  and  I  not  only  tried  to  look  so,  but  I 
tried  to  preach  so,  and  in  all  good  conscience  1  went 
at  the  top  of  my  speed,  and  did  my  very  best,  but  it 
was  a  failure.  Brother  Kirkpatrick  came  to  me  again, 
and  deeply  sympathized  with  me. 

Said  I,  "Brother,  I  know  what  is  the  matter;  I  '11 
come  it  the  next  time." 

So  on  Sunday  night  I  mounted  the  stand,  took 
my  text,  and,  though  I  had  loaded  in  a  hurry,  drew 
the  bow  at  a  venture,  and  let  fly  arrows  in  almost 
all  directions:  some  laughed;  some  cried;  some  be- 
came angry;  some  ran;  some  cursed  me  right  out; 
some  shouted;  some  fell  to  the  earth;  and  there  was 
a  general  uproar  throughout  the  whole  encampment. 
Our  meeting  lasted  all  night,  and  the  slain  of  the 
Lord  were  many;  and  although  tkis  discourse  was 
delivered  without  connection,  system,  or  any  thing 
else  but  exhortation,  I  redeemed  myself,  and  now  it 
was  admitted  that  I  was  a  great  preacher. 

I  attended  several  camp  meetings  in  this  neighbor- 
hood during  my  continuance  on  the  district,  and  we 
always  had  good  times;  there  was,  however,  consid- 
erable opposition  and  persecution.  At  one  of  these 
camp  meetings  the  wicked  young  men,  who  were 
chiefly  children  of  religious  people,  or  professors  in 
other  Churches,  brought  their  whisky  and  hid  it  it 


PETER    CARTWRIG  II  T.  271 

the  woods,  where  they  would  collect  together  and 
drink,  and  then  come  and  disturb  the  worshiping 
congregation.  I  closely  watched  them,  and  after 
they  had  gone  out  to  their  whisky  and  drank  freely, 
and  returned  to  interrupt  us,  I  captured  their  keg  of 
whisky,  and  brought  it  in  and  placed  it  under  guard. 
After  a  while  they  missed  it,  and  there  was  great 
onfusion  among  them.  They  finally  suspected  me, 
and  sent  me  word,  if  I  wrould  give  up  their  whisky 
they  would  behave  themselves  or  go  away.  I  sent 
them  word,  that  I  never  hired  people  to  behave,  and 
if  they  did  not  behave  I  would  make  them.  They 
then  sent  me  word,  if  I  did  not  give  up  their  whisky 
they  would  stone  the  preachers'  tent  that  night,  and 
one  of  them  had  the  impudence  to  tell  me  so.  I  ut- 
terly refused  to  give  up  the  whisky,  and  told  him  to 
stone  away,  that  I  would  be  ready  for  them. 

There  was,  close  by  the  camp-ground,  a  beautiful 
running  stream,  with  a  gravelly  bottom,  and  many 
little  rocks  or  pebbles.  After  dark  a  while,  the  camp- 
ground was  brilliantly  lighted  up ;  I  went  and  bor- 
rowed some  old  clothes,  and  dressed  myself  in  dis- 
guise, and  obtained  an  old  straw  hat.  Thus  attired,  I 
sallied  out,  and  presently,  unperceived,  I  mixed  among 
these  rowdies,  and  soon  got  all  their  plans ;  they  were 
to  wait  till  the  congregation  was  dismissed,  the  lights 
put  out,  and  the  people  retired  to  rest;  and  then  they 
were  to  march  up  and  stone  the  preachers'  tent,  and 
if  1  made  my  appearance  to  annoy  them  in  any  way, 
they  were  to  give  me  a  shower  of  stones.  I  mixed 
freely  among  them,  and  do  not  suppose  any  one  even 
suspected  me  at  all.  Meeting  closed,  the  lights  were 
blown  out,  and  the  people  mostly  retired  to  rest ;  in 
the  mean  time  I  had  slipped  down  to  the  brook,  and 
filled  the  pockets  of  the  old  overcoat  that  I  had  bor- 


272  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

rowed,  with  little  stones;  and  as  I  came  up  to  them, 
they  were  just  ready  to  commence  operations  on  the 
preachers'  tent;  but  before  they  had  thrown  a  single 
stone,  I  gathered  from  my  pockets  my  hands  full  of 
stones,  and  flung  them  thick  and  fast  right  in  among 
them,  crying  out,  at  the  top  of  my  voice,  "Here  they 
are!  here  they  are!  take  them!  take  them!"  They 
Jjroke  at  full  speed,  and  such  a  running  I  hardly  ever 
witnessed.  I  took  after  them,  hallooing,  every  jump, 
"Take  them!  take  them!"  Thus  ended  the  farce. 
We  had  no  more  interruption,  and  our  camp  meeting 
went  on  gloriously,  and  we  had  many  conversions 
clear  and  powerful. 

There  lived  in  this  settlement  a  very  pious  sister, 
who  was  much  afflicted;  she  was  poor,  and  money 
was  scarce,  and  hard  to  get;  but  this  sister  believed 
it  to  be  her  duty,  and  the  duty  of  every  member  of 
the  Church,  to  aid  in  the  support  of  the  Gospel.  She 
was  very  liberal,  and  very  punctual  in  paying  her 
quarterage;  but  circumstances,  entirely  beyond  her 
control,  prevented  her  from  getting  the  money  to  pay 
her  quarterage.  The  above-named  camp  meeting  was 
the  last  quarterly  meeting  before  conference,  and  the 
thought,  that  her  preachers  were  to  go  away  without 
their  pay  greatly  afflicted  her;  she  talked  to  me 
about  it,  and  felt  greatly  distressed,  and  even  wept 
over  it.  On  Monday  morning  she  went  home,  living 
but  a  short  distance  from  the  camp-ground,  to  get  a 
fresh  supply  of  provisions,  and,  as  she  returned  to  the 
camp-ground,  she  found,  lying  in  the  road,  a  silver 
dollar ;  she  picked  it  up,  and  came  to  the  camp-ground 
greatly  rejoicing,  and  said,  the  Lord  had  given  her 
that  dollar  to  pay  her  preachers,  and  she  gave  it  to 
the  support  of  the  Gospel  with  great  cheerfulness. 
Now,  if  all  our  Church  members  would  act  as  con- 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  273 

scicntiously  as  this  beloved  sister,  our  preachers  would 
never  go  without  their  pay.  This  sister  lived  and  died 
a  noble  pattern  of  piety  ;  her  end  was  peace,  and  well 
might  she  say,  on  her  dying  couch,  to  her  surrounding 
friends,  who  wept  by  her  bedside :  "  Follow  me,  as  I 
have  followed  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

Before  I  take  leave  of  this  camp  meeting,  I  will  re- 
late an  incident,  to  show  what  lengths  people  can  go 
in  wild  and  unjustifiable  fanaticism.  There  came  a 
man  to  this  meeting  from  one  of  the  Carolinas,  who 
had  professed  religion  in  some  of  the  revivals  in  that 
country.  He  was  a  man  of  good  education,  and 
wealthy,  of  polite  manners,  of  chaste  and  pleasant 
conversation  ;  he  had  joined  no  Church,  had  no  license 
to  preach  from  any  accredited  branch  of  the  Christian 
Church,  had  no  testimonials  of  his  good  character,  or 
of  being  in  fellowship  with  any  Christian  body  what- 
ever ;  and  yet  he  professed  to  be  called  of  God  to  the 
ministry  of  the  word,  and  that  God  had  appointed 
him  to  travel  all  over  the  world,  and  to  travel  on  foot 
too. 

First,  he  was  to  bring  about  a  universal  peace 
among  all  nations;  then,  secondly,  he  was  to  unite  all 
the  branches  of  the  Christian  Church,  and  make  them 
one.  Till  then  he  was  forbidden  to  ride,  or  go  in  any 
other  way  than  on  foot;  and  when  he  had  accom- 
plished the  object  of  his  mission,  the  closing  of  which 
was  to  be  attended  by  the  bringing  in  of  the  Jews, 
and  their  return  to  Palestine,  and  the  rebuilding  of 
Jerusalem,  and  the  rearing  up  of  the  Temple;  then 
Christ  was  to  descend  bodily  as  he  ascended,  and 
reign  a  thousand  years  on  earth,  in  the  midst  of  his 
saints;  and  then,  and  not  till  then,  he,  the  preacher, 
\vns  to  ride,  and  ride  in  triumph  into  the  New  Jeru- 
salem, and  this  was  to  be  the  commencement  of  the 
18 


27  i  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

millennium.  This  man  would  talk  on  the  subject  till 
his  feelings  would  be  wrought  up  to  an  ecstatic  rap- 
ture, and  he  would  shout  in  apparent  triumph,  as  if 
he  had  performed  the  greatest  work  ever  accomplish- 
ed on  earth,  saving  the  redemption  of  the  world. 
Although  his  whole  conversation  on  the  subject  was 
replete  with  supreme  absurdities,  yet  it  was  astonish- 
ing to  see  with  what  earnest  attention  the  people 
heard  him  in  his  private  conversations;  I  say  private, 
because  I  would  not  let  him  occupy  the  pulpit,  arid 
deliver  his  discourses  from  the  stand,  although  he, 
and  others,  importuned  me  to  let  him  do  so;  but  1 
told  them,  no,  I  could  not,  in  view  of  my  responsibility 
to  God  and  man,  permit  any  such  religious  foolish- 
ness to  disturb  and  divert  the  minds  of  the  people 
from  the  sober  truths  of  the  Gospel,  and  gave,  as  my 
decided  opinion,  that  God  would  not  swerve  one 
hair's  breadth  from  the  system  of  truth  recorded  in 
the  Gospel  to  save  or  to  damn  the  world.  This  gave 
him  great  offense,  and  shortly  he  left  us;  and  I  was  ex- 
ceedingly glad  when  he  took  his  departure.  During 
the  time  he  staid  among  us  I  tried  to  reason  him  out 
of  his  absurd  notions,  to  show  the  great  folly  and  in- 
consistency of  his  views,  but  all  in  vain ;  he  construed 
it  into  persecution,  and  a  disposition  to  fight  against 
God.  I  have  lived  to  see  many  of  these  insane  en- 
thusiasts on  the  subject  of  religion,  and  I  have  never 
seen  any  good  resulting  from  giving  them  any  coun- 
tenance at  all;  but  in  several  instances,  great  harm 
was  done  by  showing  them  countenance.  They  can 
manufacture  more  fanatics,  and  in  a  shorter  time, 
than  twenty  good,  sound,  Gospel  ministers  can  turn 
five  sinners  from  the  error  of  their  ways  to  the 
service  of  the  living  and  true  God.  Perhaps  it  may 
not  be  considered  out  of  place  to  indulge  here  in  i 


PETER    CARTWRIQUT.  275 

fc\t  remarks  on  the  subject  of  this  wild,  frenzied 
fanaticism. 

There  are  several  classes  of  these  fanatics,  accord- 
ing to  the  best  observations  that  I  have  been  able  to 
make,  and  I  have  had  many  opportunities  in  the 
course  of  my  fifty  years'  ministry.  First,  there  are 
many  that  are  truly  awakened  and  soundly  converted 
to  God,  and  are  pious,  but  instead  of  taking  the 
word  of  God  for  their  only  infallible  guide,  and  trying 
the  spirits,  and  their  impressions,  or  feelings,  by  that 
as  a  standard,  they  take  all  their  impressions  and 
sudden  impulses  of  mind  as  inspirations  from  God, 
and  act  accordingly.  If  you  oppose  them,  they  say 
and  believe  you  are  fighting  against  God.  If  you  try 
to  reason  them  out  of  their  visionary  flights,  and  set- 
tle them  down  on  the  sure  foundation,  the  word  of 
God,  they  construe  it  all  into  the  want  of  religion,  and 
cry  out  persecution. 

Secondly.  There  is  another  class  of  enthusiastic 
persons,  that  not  only  seem,  but  actually  are,  so  su- 
premely wrapped  up  in  self,  that  all  they  do,  or  say, 
or  perform,  is  to  be  seen  of  men,  and  if  they  can  only 
get  the  ignorant  multitude  to  run  after  them,  and 
cry  "  Hosanna !  blessed  is  he  that  cometh  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord,"  they  wrap  themselves  in  their 
mantle  of  supreme  self-complacence.  They  surely 
have  not  the  fear  of  God  before  their  eyes,  and  their 
fearful  responsibilities  seem  not  to  enter  into  their 
calculations  from  first  to  last.  Woe  unto  them  !  If 
they  want  to  go  to  hell,  they  had  better  take  the 
most  obscure  route  to  that  dismal  region,  and  go 
single-handed  and  alone,  than  to  draw  the  ignorant 
nnd  gaping  crowds,  the  riff  raff  of  all  God's  creation, 
after  them ;  but  all  rebels  against  the  government  of 
God  love  company.  The  devil  himself  is  a  fearful 


270  AUTOBIOdllArilY    OP 

witness  of  this  fact,  when,  under  his  mutinous  and  ro 
volting  conspiracy  against  the  eternal  Majesty  of 
heaven,  he  drew  the  third  part  of  the  stars  of  heaven 
after  him  in  his  rebellion  against  God.  It  is  impossi- 
ble to  calculate  the  mischief  done  by  this  class  of 
fanatics,  and  the  many  souls  they  have  ruined  forever. 

Thirdly.  There  is  a  dark,  motley  crowd  of  wizards, 
witches,  and  spiritual  rappers,  so  called,  that  have, 
sooner  or  later,  infested  all  lands,  and  are  the  com- 
mon property  of  the  devil.  They  must  have  a  fee  for 
divining  and  soothsaying,  and  make  a  gain  of  their 
pretended  art,  and  some  of  them  pretend  to  be  min- 
isters of  Christ  and  followers  of  the  Lamb.  By  the 
indulgence  of  my  readers  I  will  give  a  very  brief  and, 
of  course,  imperfect  statement  of  a  case  that  will  set 
this  matter  in  a  true  light. 

There  was,  in  one  of  our  eastern  conferences,  a 
very  talented,  shrewd  traveling  preacher,  whose 
piety  was  of  a  doubtful  complexion.  If  his  piety 
had  been  equal  to  his  talents  as  a  pulpit  orator,  he 
certainly  could  have  done  a  great  deal  of  good;  but 
being  weighed  in  the  balances  of  the  public  mind, 
and,  in  point  of  piety,  found  wanting,  he  thought 
he  must  rise  somehow,  so  he  fell  in  with  those  locusts 
of  Egypt,  the  spiritual  rappers,  took  a  few  lessons, 
and  then  commenced  operations,  and  really  astonish- 
ed the  ignorant  multitudes,  himself  with  the  rest. 
He  pretended  to  call  up  the  dead  from  every  country 
and  clime ;  he  summoned  them  from  heaven,  earth, 
and  hell ;  he  not  only  could  tell  who  was  happy  in 
heaven,  as  he  said,  but  who  were  miserable  in  hell ; 
he  could  hold  communion  with  God,  with  angels, 
spirits,  and  the  devil  also.  The  last  part  I  am  not 
disposed  to  doubt.  Indeed,  I  have  very  little  doubt 
tlut  he  was  in  constant  communion  with  the  devil. 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  277 

The  Church  was  grieved  with  this  state  of  things, 
and  the  ministers  thought  it  their  duty  to  arrest  him, 
not  only  for  these  presumptuous  pretensions,  but  for 
sundry  other  moral  delinquencies.  They  tried  him, 
and  expelled  him  from  the  Church.  He  appealed  to 
the  General  conference  that  sat  in  Pittsburg  in  1848 
On  examination  the  General  conference  thought  that 
there  was  some  informality  in  his  trial  in  the  annual 
conference  to  which  he  belonged,  and  they  remanded 
it  back  to  his  conference  for  a  new  trial.  The  con- 
ference took  up  the  case  again,  found  him  guilty  of 
several  immoralities,  and  expelled  him  again.  From 
this  act  of  expulsion  he  appealed  to  the  General  con- 
ference that  sat  in  Boston  in  1852.  In  his  defense 
before  that  body,  he  openly  avowed  that  he  could  tell 
what  was  going  on  in  heaven,  earth,  and  hell ;  that  he 
had  foretold  the  results  of  many  of  the  important  battles 
in  Mexico,  under  Generals  Taylor  and  Scott,  before 
the  battles  were  fought;  and  that  he  knew  how  the 
decision  of  that  General  conference  would  go,  before 
the  trial  ended.  When  the  special  pleadings  in  his 
case  were  over,  and  he  was  requested  to  retire,  in 
order  that  the  conference  should  make  up  their  ver- 
dict, I  slipped  out  at  the  door  after  him,  and  said  to 
him,  "Now,  brother  S.,  can  you  tell  how  this  con- 
ference will  decide  in  your  case  beforehand?" 

"  Yes,  I  can,"  said  he. 

"Well,"  said  I,  "if  you  will  tell  me  now,  and  they 
should  decide  as  you  say,  you  can  very  easily  make  a 
convert  of  me.  Do  tell  me  here,  privately;  I  will  say 
nothing  about  it  till  the  verdict  is  rendered." 

"Get  away,"  said  he;  "I  will  not  do  it." 

"No,"  said  I,  "because  you  can  not."  The  General 
conference,  with  great  unanimity,  affirmed  the  de- 
cision )f  the  court  below,  and  he  was  expelled. 


278  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

While  I  was  on  my  way  to  the  quarterly  meeting 
in  Mississippi  circuit,  at  brother  J.  Pickett's,  in  what 
was  then  Madison  county,  south  of  the  Macoupin 
creek,  there  had  fallen  a  tremendous  rain,  and  tho 
creek  was  out  of  its  banks.  There  was  a  little,  old, 
crazy  horse-boat;  and  although  within  a  few  miles 
of  the  place  where  the  quarterly  meeting  was  to  be 
held,  there  was  no  chance  of  getting  there  without 
risking  life  in  this  old,  crazy  boat  across  this  rapid 
stream.  When  I  rode  up  to  the  creek  there  sat  a 
good  old  local  preacher  on  the  bank,  holding  his 
horse  by  the  bridle.  After  the  usual  salutations, 
he  said, 

'•Brother,  I  started  to  go  to  the  quarterly  meeting, 
but  I  have  no  money,  and  the  ferryman  will  not  set 
me  over,  even  on  trust." 

•'How  much  does  he  charge?"  said  I. 

He  replied,  "  Twelve  and  a  half  cents." 

"Very  well,  brother,"  said  I,  "go  with  me,  and 
I  will  pay  the  ferriage." 

So  we  crossed  and  got  out  safely.  That  night  this 
old  brother  preached,  and  the  power  of  the  Lord  was 
present  to  kill  and  make  alive.  Three  souls  were 
converted  and  six  joined  the  Church,  and  we  had  an 
excellent  meeting.  I  state  this  little  circumstance  to 
show  the  great  good  that  can  be  done  with  a  small 
Bum  of  money.  I  do  not  think  that  I  ever  laid  out 
twelve  and  a  half  cents  to  better  advantage  in  all  my 
little  pilgrimage  on  earth. 

From  this  quarterly  meeting  I  crossed  the  Illinois 
river  on  to  the  Military  Tract,  aiming  for  the  Atlas 
circuit  quarterly  meeting.  Late  in  the  evening  I  rode 
up  to  a  temporary  building,  a  total  stranger,  and 
aaked  for  quarters  for  the  night,  which  was  readily 
granted.  I  found  that  my  landlord's  family  had 


PETER    CARTWRrflllT.  279 

moved  from  some  of  the  New  England  states,  and 
wer°  a  well-informed  and  clever  family.  The  gentle- 
man s  name  was  Colonel  Ross.  Several  families  had 
moved  out  here,  and  had  been  living  here  three  or 
fonr  years,  and,  perhaps,  had  never  heard  a  sermon 
since  they  had  settled  in  this  new  country.  I  was 
invited  to  pray  in  the  family  night  and  morning 
Our  conversation  chiefly  turned  on  religious  subjects 
When  I  started  on  next  morning,  they  would  receive 
no  compensation  from  me ;  and  as  they  were  kind,  and 
would  have  nothing  for  my  night's  lodging,  hav- 
ing in  my  saddle-bags  a  few  religious  books,  I  drew 
out  "  the  Letters  and  Poems  of  Caroline  Matilda 
Thayer,"  and  made  a  present  of  this  little  book  to 
my  landlady,  and  went  on  my  way. 

I  was  happy  afterward  to  learn  from  this  land- 
lady's own  mouth  that  God  made  this  little  book  the 
means  of  her  sound  conversion.  She  led  a  happy 
Christian  life,  and  died  a  peaceful,  triumphant  death. 
I  name  this  little  circumstance  to  show,  in  a  small 
way,  what  good  can  be  done  by  the  distribution  of 
religious  books  among  the  people.  It  has  often  been 
a  question  that  I  shall  never  be  able  to  answer  on 
earth,  whether  I  have  done  the  most  good  by  preach- 
ing or  distributing  religious  books.  If  we  as  a  Church 
had  been  blessed  with  a  flourishing  Book  Concern 
Buch  as  we  now  have,  and  our  preachers  had  scattered 
books  broad- cast  over  these  western  wilds,  or  any 
other  wilds,  it  would  be  impossible  to  tell  the  vast 
amount  of  good  that  would  have  been  done.  And, 
indeed,  this  is  one  of  the  grand  secrets  of  the  success 
of  our  early  Methodist  preachers. 

Well  do  I  remember  of  reading,  in  early  life, 
Russell's  Seven  Sermons,  Nelson's  Journals,  and 
such  books  as  those,  which  would  make  me  weep, 


280  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

and  pray  too.  For  more  than  fifty  years  I  have  firmly 
believed,  that  it  was  a  part  and  parcel  of  a  Method- 
ist preacher's  most  sacred  duty  to  circulate  good 
books  wherever  they  go  among  the  people.  And  I 
claim  to  have  come  as  nigh  my  duty  in  this  as  any 
other,  and  perhaps  more  so.  I  have  spread  thousands 
of  dollars'  worth  among  the  people;  sometimes  a 
thousand  dollars'  worth  a  year.  But  I  fear  a  change 
for  the  worse  has  come  over  our  Methodist  preachers 
on  this  subject ;  many  of  them,  since  the  country  has 
grown  up  into  improved  life,  and  wealth  abounds, 
feel  themselves  degraded  in  peddling  books,  as  they 
call  it,  and  want  to  roll  this  whole  duty  on  to  the 
colporteurs.  But  I  believe,  with  our  most  excellent 
Discipline,  that  we  should  "be  ashamed  of  nothing 
but  sin."  The  religious  press  is  destined,  in  the  order 
of  Providence,  to  give  moral  freedom  to  the  perish- 
ing millions  of  earth.  "  My  people,"  saith  the  Lord, 
"perish  for  lack  of  knowledge."  Think  of  this, 
ye  ministers  of  Jesus  Christ;  lay  aside  your  pride, 
and  call  to  your  aid,  in  disseminating  religious  knowl- 
edge from  the  pulpit,  religious  books,  and  God  will 
own  the  effort,  and  prosper  the  work  of  your  hands 
every-where. 

I  suppose  I  was  the  first  preacher  who  ever  held 
a  camp  meeting  in  the  Military  Tract,  in  what  is  now 
called  Pike,  Adams,  Schuyler,  and  Hancock  counties. 
We  had  a  camp  meeting  in  Pike  county  in  18*27.  We 
had  but  one  tent  on  the  ground,  and  that  was  called 
the  "  Preachers'  Tent."  The  people  rolled  on  to  the 
ground  in  their  wagons ;  brought  their  victuals,  and 
ate  at  the  wagons.  We  held  this  meeting  several 
days  and  nights  in  this  way,  and  we  had  a  prosperous 
meeting.  We  had  one  in  Schuyler  county  the  same 
season,  and  many  souls  were  blessed. 


PETER   CART  WRIGHT.  281 

Our  Pottawattoinie  mission  was  located  on  Fox 
river.  Jesse  Walker  was  missionary,  and  I  was 
appointed  superintendent ;  and  it  belonged  to  the 
Illinois  district.  During  the  two  years  that  I  super 
intended  this  mission  I  received  not  one  cent  from 
the  missionary  funds.  We  had  near  one  hundred 
miles  of  unbroken  wilderness  country  to  pass  through 
to  get  to  this  mission.  I  had  to  pack  provisions  for 
myself  and  horse  to  and  from  the  mission.  There 
being  no  roads,  I  had  to  hire  my  pilot,  and  camp  out. 

Having  made  preparations  for  the  journey,  and  an 
appointment  to  meet  the  chiefs  of  the  nation  at  the 
mission,  I  started  from  the  Peoria  quarterly  meeting 
with  my  pilot  and  several  volunteers  for  the  mission. 
We  shaped  our  course  from  point  to  point  of-  timber. 
Late  in  the  evening  we  struck  the  timber  of  the  Il- 
linois Vermillion,  and  finding  plenty  of  water,  we 
camped,  struck  fire,  cooked,  and  took  supper  and  din- 
ner all  under  one.  We  had  prayer,  fixed  our  blank- 
ets and  overcoats,  and  laid  us  down  and  slept  soundly 
and  sweetly  till  next  morning.  We  rose  early,  took 
breakfast,  fed  our  horses,  and  started  on  our  way 
across  the  Illinois  river,  swimming  our  horses  beside 
a  canoe,  and  just  at  night  reached  the  mission.  We 
called  the  mission  family  together  and  preached  to 
them.  The  next  day  the  chiefs  appeared;  we  smoked 
the  pipe  of  friendship  with  them,  and,  through  an  in- 
terpreter, I  made  a  speech  to  them,  explaining  our 
object  in  establishing  a  mission  among  them.  All 
the  chiefs  now  shook  hands  with  us,  as  their  custom 
is,  and  gave  us  a  very  sociable  talk,  and  all  bid  us  a 
cordial  welcome  save  one,  who  was  strongly  opposed 
to  our  coming  among  them.  He  did  not  wish  to 
change  their  religion  and  their  customs,  nor  to  edu- 
cate their  children.  I  replied  to  him,  and  met  all  his 


282  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

objections.  I  tried  to  show  them  the  benefits  of  civil- 
ization and  the  Christian  religion.  There  was  pres- 
ent a  Chippewa  chief,  with  his  two  daughters,  at  the 
mission  The  chief  made  a  flaming  speech  in  favor 
of  the  mission,  and  in  favor  of  our  "Great  Father," 
the  President,  and  the  American  people.  He  had 
fought  under  the  American  colors  in  the  last  war 
with  England,  and  had  his  diploma  from  the  Presi- 
dent as  a  brave  captain,  and  showed  it  with  great  ex- 
ultation. His  two  daughters  were  dressed  like  the 
whites,  and  could  read  pretty  well.  When  our  "great 
talk  "  was  over,  I  asked  them  the  liberty  to  preach  to 
them,  which  was  granted.  I  tried  to  explain  to  them 
the  original  state  of  man,  the  fall  of  man,  and  the 
redemption  through  Christ;  the  condition  of  salvation, 
namely,  faith  in  Christ,  and  obedience  to  all  the  pre- 
cepts of  the  Gospel,  as  revealed  in  the  holy  Scrip- 
tures ;  and  urged  them  to  repent,  and  forsake  all  their 
sins,  and  come  to  Christ. 

It  was  an  awkward  and  slow  way  to  preach,  through 
an  interpreter,  but  I  succeeded  much  better  than  I 
anticipated.  One  Indian  woman  who  had  obtained 
religion,  as  we  believed,  desired  baptism,  arid  the  or- 
dinance was  administered  to  her.  Several  couple, 
from  the  scattering  white  people  that  hung  around 
the  mission,  applied  to  be  married. 

After  directing  matters,  according  to  my  instruc- 
tions as  superintendent,  we  started  for  home.  After 
traveling  near  fifty  miles,  night  came  on  at  a  point  of 
timber  called  Crow  Point,  and  there  we  camped.  A 
dreadful  storm  of  wind  arose,  which  blew  a  severe 
gale,  but  Providence  favored  us  in  withholding  the 
rain,  and  we  considered  this  a  great  blessing.  The 
next  day  we  reached  the  settlement  in  health  and 
safety. 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  283 

\Ve  expended  several  thousand  dollars  of  mission- 
ary money  in  improving  these  mission  premises,  and 
succeeded  in  civilizing  and  Christianizing  a  few  of 
these  Indians,  J)ut  the  whites  kept  constantly  encroach- 
ing on  them  till  they  became  restless,  and,  finally, 
the  Government  bought  them  out.  The  mission 
premises,  with  a  section  of  land,  was  reserved  for  one 
of  the  half  breed,  so  that  the  Missionary  Society  lost 
all  that  they  had  expended.  It  is  true  the  chiefs  of 
the  nation  gave  brother  Walker  a  thousand  dollars  of 
their  annuities,  as  a  compensation  for  the  improve- 
ments he  had  made  with  the  missionary  money ;  and 
this  money  properly  belonged  to  the  Missionary 
Society,  but  thoy  never  realized  it;  and  the  Indians 
moved,  finally,  west  of  the  Mississippi.  There  is  still 
a  lingering,  nasting  remnant  of  that  nation;  they 
have  a  missionary  among  them,  and  a  good  many  of 
them  are  pious  Christians. 

Before  *his  mission  was  broken  up  there  appeared 
another  of  those  wandering  stars,  or  visionary  preach- 
ers, by  the  name  of  Paine.  He  visited  a  camp  meet- 
ing held  near  Springfield.  He  had  no  proper  cre- 
dentials to  preach,  and  yet  he  professed  to  be  com- 
missioned from  Heaven  to  convert  the  world,  whites, 
Indians,  and  all.  lie  wanted  to  preach  at  my  camp 
meeting,  but  I  would  not  permit  him  to  occupy  the 
stand.  He  called  off  the  loose  crowd  some  distance 
into  the  woods,  gave  us  a  terrible  tongue-lashing, 
and  then  departed  north  to  preach  to  the  Indians.  In 
the  mean  time  the  Black  Hawk  Indian  war  had 
broken  out,  and  they  were  killing  our  people  on  the 
outskirts  of  the  settlement  fearfully.  This  Paine 
had  gotten  up  somewhere  this  side  of  Chicago,  and 
wanted  to  come  down  the  country  toward  the  old 
mission.  He  was  admonished  not  to  venture,  and  was 


284  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

assured  the  Indians  would  kill  him,  but  he  was  so 
visionary  that  he  said  he  was  not  afraid  to  go  alone, 
right  in  among  them,  for  the  Lord  would  protect  him, 
and  the  Indians  would  not  hurt  a  hair  of  his  head. 
lie,  in  spite  of  every  warning,  started  alone,  through 
a  long  prairie.  The  Indians  were  waylaying  the 
trail,  and  as  he  drew  near  a  point  of  timber  they 
shot  and  killed  him,  and  then  cut  off  his  head;  after 
sculping  it,  they  placed  it  on  a  pole,  and  stuck  the  pole 
erect  in  the  ground.  They  then  took  his  horse  and 
riding  apparatus,  clothes,  etc.  The  next  day,  as  a 
company  of  men  passed,  they  saw  Paine's  head  stick- 
ing on  a  pole,  and  his  body  greatly  mangled  by  the 
wolves;  and  this  was  an  end  of  his  commission  to 
convert  the  world,  Indians  and  all.  "As  the  fool 
dieth,  so  died  he." 

In  the  fall  of  1827,  Sept.  20th,  our  conference  was 
held  in  Mount  Carmel,  and  I  was  continued  on  the 
Illinois  district,  and  the  name  of  Mississippi  circuit 
changed  to  Apple  Creek  circuit.  At  the  Mount  Car- 
mel conference  we  elected  our  delegates  that  sat  in 
Pittsburg,  May  1,  1828.  This  was  our  fifth  dele- 
gated General  conference,  and  the  first  we  ever  had 
in  the  west,  this  side  of  the  mountains. 

In  the  month  of  April  brother  Dew,  brother 
Thompson,  and  myself,  met  at  St.  Louis,  to  take  pas- 
sage on  board  a  steamboat  to  the  General  conference 
in  Pittsburg.  We  had  never  been  on  board  a  steam- 
boat before,  at  least  I  never  had.  They  were  then  a 
new  thing  among  us,  so  we  took  passage  on  board 
the  "  Velocepedc,"  Mr.  Ray  captain.  Before  we  went 
aboard,  brothers  Dew  and  Thompson,  with  the  kind- 
est feelings  imaginable,  thought  it  their  duty  to  cau- 
tion me  to  be  very  quiet,  for  these  steamboat  fellows, 
passengers  and  all,  were  desperadoes.  They  knew  I 


PETER   CAKTWRIQI1T.  285 

was  outspoken,  loved  every  body  and  feared  nobody. 
They  were  afraid  I  would  get  into  some  difficulty 
with  somebody.  I  thanked  them  very  kindly  for 
their  special  care  over  me.  "But,"  said  I,  "brethren, 
take  care  of  yourselves;  I  think  I  know  how  to  be- 
have mvself,  and  make  others  behave  themselves,  if 
need  be/' 

When  we  got  aboard  we  had  a  crowded  cabin,  a 
mixed  multitude;  some  deists,  some  atheists,  some 
Uuiversalists,  a  great  many  profane  swearers,  drunk- 
ards, gamblers,  fiddlers,  and  dancers.  We  dropped 
down  to  the  barrack,  below  St.  Louis,  and  there  came 
aboard  eight  or  ten  United  States  officers,  and  we  had 
a  jolly  set,  I  assure  you.  They  drank,  fiddled,  danced, 
swore,  played  cards,  men  and  women  too.  I  walked 
about,  said  nothing,  but  plainly  saw  we  were  in  a  bad 
snap,  but  there  was  no  way  to  help  ourselves.  Brother 
Thompson  came  to  me  and  said,  "  Lord  have  mercy 
on  me!  what  shall  we  do?" 

"Go  to  your  berth,"  said  I,  "and  stay  there 
quietly." 

"No,"  said  he  ;  "I  '11  reprove  them." 

••Now,  brother,"  said  I,  "do  not  cast  your  pearls 
before  swine." 

"  Well,"  said  he,  "  I  won't  stay  in  the  cabin ;  1 11 
go  on  deck." 

Up  he  started,  and  when  he  got  there,  behold,  they 
were  playing  cards  from  one  end  of  the  deck  to  the 
other.  Back  he  came  and  said,  "What  shall  I  do? 
I  can  not  stand  it." 

"Well,"  said  I,  "brother  Thompson,  be  quiet  and 
behave  yourself;  YOU  have  no  way  to  remedy  your 
condition,  unless  you  jump  overboard  and  swim  to 
shore." 

So  things  went  on  several  Joys  and  nights.     At  the 


286  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

mouth  of  the  Ohio  there  came  aboard  a  Captain 
Waters.  He  had  a  new  fiddle  and  a  pack  of  cards. 
He  was  a  professed  infidel.  Card-playing  was  re- 
newed all  over  the  cahin.  The  captain  of  the  hoat 
was  as  fond  of  drinking  and  card-playing  as  any  of 
them.  There  was  a  lieutenant  of  the  regular  army 
on  board,  and  although  he  was  very  wicked,  yet  he 
had  been  raised  by  religious  parents.  His  wife,  as 
he  told  me,  was  a  good  Christian.  In  walking  the 
guard  thi?  lieutenant,  whose  name  was  Barker,  and 
myself  fell  into  conversation,  and,  being  by  ourselves, 
I  took  occasion  to  remonstrate  with  him  on  the  sub- 
ject of  his  profanity.  He  readily  admitted  it  was 
wrong,  and  said,  "I  have  been  better  taught.  But 
0,"  said  he,  "the  demoralizing  life  of  a  soldier  !*' 

There  was  also  a  Major  Biddle  on  board,  a  pro- 
fessed infidel,  but  gentlemanly  in  his  manners;  he 
afterward  fell  in  a  duel,  in  or  near  St.  Louis.  I  got 
a  chance  to  talk  to  him  in  private,  and  alone;  I  re- 
monstrated against  his  profanity ;  he  agreed  with  me 
in  all  I  said.  In  this  way  I  got  to  talk  to  many  of 
them,  and  they  mostly  ceased  to  swear  profanely  in 
my  presence.  Presently  they  gathered  around  the 
table,  and  commenced  playing  cards ;  I  walked  care- 
lessly up,  and  looked  on.  Lieutenant  Barker  aqd  Cap- 
tain Waters  looked  up  at  me;  I  knew  they  felt  re- 
proved. Said  one  of  them  to  me:  "We  are  not  black- 
legs; we  are  not  playing  for  money,  but  just  to  kill 
time."  I  affected  to  be  profoundly  ignorant  of  what 
they  were  doing,  and  asked  them  what  those  little 
spotted  things  were.  Mr.  Barker  said, 

"  Sit  down  here,  and  I  will  show  you  what  we  are 
Joirig,  and  how  we  do  it." 

"No,  no,"  said  I,  "my  friends;  I  am  afraid  it  is  all 
wrong." 


P  E  T  E  R    CART  W  RIGHT.  287 

They  insisted  tncrc  was  no  harm  in  it  at  all. 

"  Well/'  said  I,  "gentlemen,  if  you  are  just  playing 
for  fun,  or  to  kill  time,  would  it  not  be  much  better 
to  drop  all  such  foolishness,  and  let  us  talk  on  some 
topic  to  inform  each  other?  then  we  could  all  be 
edified.  As  it  is,  a  few  of  you  enjoy  all  the  pleasure, 
if,  indeed,  there  is  any  in  it ;  while  the  rest  of  us,  who 
have  no  taste  for  such  amusements,  are  not  at  all 
benefited.  Come,  lay  aside  those  little  spotted  papers, 
that  are  only  calculated  to  please  children  of  a  larger 
size,  and  let  us  talk  on  history,  philosophy,  or  astron- 
omy; then  we  can  all  enjoy  it,  and  be  greatly  bene- 
fited." 

Captain  Waters  said :  "  Sir,  if  you  will  debate  with 
me  on  the  Christian  religion,  we  will  quit  all  our 
cards,  fiddles,  and  dances." 

"  I  will  do  it  with  pleasure,  Captain,"  said  1.  "  I 
have  only  one  objection  to  debate  with  you.  You  are 
in  the  habit,  I  see,  of  swearing  profanely,  and  using 
oaths,  and  I  can't  swear  back  at  you;  and  I  fear,  a 
debate  mixed  up  with  profane  oaths,  would  be  un- 
profitable." 

"  Well,  sir,"  said  he,  "  if  you  will  debate  with  mo 
on  that  subject,  I  will  pledge  you  my  word  and 
honor  that  I  will  not  swear  a  single  oath." 

"Very  well,  sir,"  said  I;  "on  that  condition,  I 
will  debate  with  you."  By  this  time  there  were 
gathered  around  us  a  large  crowd. 

"  Well,"  said  Lieutenant  Barker,  "  take  notice  of 
the  terms  on  which  this  debate  is  to  be  conducted." 
Said  he,  "Now,  gentlemen,  draw  near,  and  take 
your  seats,  and  listen  to  the  arguments;  arid  by  the 
consent  of  the  two  belligerent  gentlemen,  I  will  keep 
order." 

We  botli  agreed  to  his  proposition.     The  Captain 


288  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

opened  the  discussion  by  a  great  flourish  of  trumpets, 
expressing  his  great  happiness  at  having  one  more 
opportunity  of  vindicating  the  religion  of  reason  and 
nature,  in  opposition  to  the  religion  of  a  bastard.  To 
all  of  these  flourishes  I  simply  replied,  that  the 
Christian  religion  was  of  age,  and  could  speak  for 
itself;  and  that  I  felt  proud  of  an  opportunity  to 
show  that  infidelity  was  born  out  of  holy  wedlock; 
and,  therefore,  in  the  strictest  sense,  was  a  bastard, 
and  that  I  thought  it  ill  became  the  advocate  of  a 
notorious  illegitimate  to  heap  any  reproaches  on  Christ. 
These  exordiums  had  one  good  effect;  they  fixed  and 
riveted  the  attention  of  almost  all  the  passengers,  the 
captain  of  the  boat,  ladies  and  all.  My  opponent 
then  proceeded  to  lay  down  his  premises  and  draw 
his  conclusions.  When  his  twenty  minutes  expired, 
I  replied;  and  in  my  reply  quoted  a  passage  of 
Scripture. 

"  Hold,  sir,"  said  my  opponent,  "  I  do  n't  allow  a 
book  of  fables  and  lies  to  be  brought  in ;  nothing  shall 
be  admitted  here  but  honorable  testimony." 

"Very  well,  sir,"  said  I;  "the  Bible  shall  be  dis- 
pensed with  altogether  as  evidence;  and  then  I  feel 
confident  I  can  overturn  your  system  on  testimony 
drawn  from  the  book  of  nature;"  and  proceeded  in 
the  argument. 

In  his  second  replication  he  quoted  Tom  Paine  as 
evidence. 

"Hold,  sir,"  said  I;  "such  a  degraded  witness  as 
Tom  Paine  can't  be  admitted  as  testimony  in  this  de- 
bate." 

My  opponent  flew  into  a  violent  passion,  and  swore 
profanely,  that  God  Almighty  never  made  a  purer 
and  more  honorable  man  than  Tom  Paine.  As  ho 
belched  forth  these  horrid  oaths,  I  took  him  by  the 


PETER    CARTWRISHT.  289 

chin  with  my  hand,  and  moved  his  jaws  together,  and 
made  his  teeth  rattle  together  at  a  mighty  rate.  He 
rose  to  his  feet,  so  did  I.  He  drew  his  fist  and  swore 
he  would  smite  me  to  the  floor.  Lieutenant  Barkei 
sprang  in  between  us,  saying, 

"Cartwright,  stand  back;  you  can  beat  him  in 
argument,  and  I  can  whip  him ;  and,  if  there  is  any 
fighting  to  be  done,  I  am  his  man,  from  the  point  of  a 
needle  to  the  mouth  of  a  cannon ;  for  he  is  no  gentle- 
man, as  he  pledged  his  word  and  honor  that  he  would 
not  swear;  and  he  has  broken  his  word  and  forfeited 
his  honor." 

Well,  I  had  then  to  fly  in  between  them,  to  prevent 
a  bloody  fight,  for  they  both  drew  deadly  weapons. 
Finally,  this  ended  the  argument.  My  valorous  cap- 
tain made  concessions,  and  all  became  pacified.  From 
this  out,  Barker  was  my  fast  friend,  and  would  have 
fought  for  me  at  any  time;  and  my  infidel,  Captain 
\Vaters,  became  very  friendly  to  me;  and  when  we 
.anded  in  the  night  at  Louisville,  he  insisted  that  I 
should  go  home  with  him  and  partake  of  his  very 
best  hospitalities. 

But,  to  return  a  little  to  my  narrative,  the  whole 
company  that  witnessed  the  encounter  with  my  infi- 
del captain  were  interested  in  my  favor.  Our  boat 
was  old  and  crazy,  and  we  made  but  little  speed ; 
consequently  we  were  detained  on  the  river  over 
Sunday.  Early  on  Sabbath  morning,  the  passengers 
formed  themselves  into  a  kind  of  committee  of  the 
whole,  and  appointed  a  special  committee  to  wait  on 
me,  and  invite  me  to  preach  to  them  that  day  on  the 
boat.  Lieutenant  Barker  was  the  committee.  He 
came  to  me,  and  presented  the  request.  I  said, 

"  Lieutenant,  I  never  traveled  on  a  steamboat  before, 
ami  it  will  be  a  very  awkward  affair  for  me  to  preach 
19 


290  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

on  the  boat;  and  besides,  I  don't  know  that  the  cap- 
tain would  like  such  an  arrangement;  and  the  pas- 
sengers will  drink,  and  perhaps  gamble,  and  be  dis- 
orderly; and  every  man  on  a  steamboat  is  a  free  man, 
and  will  do  pretty  much  as  he  pleases,  and  will  not 
be  reproved." 

Said  the  Lieutenant,  "  I  Lave  consulted  the  captain 
of  the  boat,  and  he  is  willing,  and  pledges  himself  to 
keep  good  order.  And  now,  sir,"  said  he,  "we  have 
annoyed  you  and  your  fellow-clergymen  all  the  week, 
and  I  pledge  you  my  word,  all  shall  be  orderly,  and 
you  shall  enjoy  your  religious  privileges  on  Sunday 
undisturbed,  and  you  must  preach  to  us.  We  need  it, 
and  the  company  will  not  be  satisfied  if  you  do  n't 
comply." 

I  gave  my  consent,  and  we  fixed  on  the  following 
times  for  three  sermons:  One  immediately  after  the 
table  was  cleared  off  after  breakfast,  one  after  dinner, 
and  one  after  supper.  I  led  the  way,  taking  the 
morning  hour.  The  cabin  was  seated  in  good  order, 
the  deck  passengers  were  invited  down.  We  had  a 
very  orderly,  well-behaved  congregation.  Brother 
Dev  preached  in  the  afternoon,  and  brother  Thomp- 
son at  night,  and  I  rarely  ever  spent  a  more  orderly 
Sabbath  any  where  within  the  walls  of  a  church. 
From  this  out  we  had  no  more  drunkenness,  pro- 
fane swearing,  or  card-playing.  What  good  was 
done,  if  any,  the  judgment  day  will  alone  declare. 
I  can  not  close  this  sketch  and  do  justice  to  my  feel- 
ings without  saying  a  few  things  more. 

After  the  adjournment  of  the  General  conference, 
on  our  return  trip  home,  the  river  had  fallen  very 
much.  We  could  n^t  pass  ever  the  falls,  and  the 
canal  was  not  finished  around  them.  Of  course  we 
bad  to  land  and  reship  at  the  foot  of  the  falls.  The 


PETBR    CARTWRIGHT.  29] 

Maryland,  a  good  steamboat,  lay  here  T»'^itiag  for 
passengers.  When  I  entered  this  bot»t,  almost  the 
first  man  I  met  was  Lieutenant  Barker,  who^  when 
ne  recognized  me,  sprang  forward  &ijd  seized  me 
by  the  hand,  and  said,  "0,  is  this  ILi.  Cartwright  ?" 
and  really  seemed  as  glad  to  see  nie  as  if  I  had  been 
his  own  brother.  He  had  been  on  east,  and  was  re- 
turning with  his  wife  to  some  of  the  western  military 
posts. 

"Now,  sir,"  said  he,  "I  told  you  I  had  a  good 
little  Christian  woman  for  my  wife.  She  h  in  the 
ladies'  cabin.  I  have  talked  to  her  of  you  a  thou- 
sand times*  Come,  you  must  go  right  in  with  me, 
and*  I  will  introduce  her  to  you.  I  knew  she  will 
be  glad  to  see  and  form  an  acquaintance  y/itL  you." 

I  went,  and  was  introduced  to  tbi-G,  as  I  believe, 
Christian  lady.  We  had  a  number  of  preachers  on 
board,  returning  delegates  from  ths  General  confer- 
ence, and  we  had  preaching  akrjet  every  day  and 
night  from  that  to  St.  Louis,  for  we  had  almost  entire 
command  of  the  boat. 


292  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 


CHAPTER  XX. 

METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH  IN  CANADA. 

IN  the  fall  of  1828  our  conference  sat  in  Madison, 
fndiana,  October  9th.  This  was  the  only  annual  con- 
ference that  I  ever  missed  attending  in  fifty  years. 
My 'wife  was  sorely  afflicted,  and  was  supposed  to  be 
at  the  gates  of  death,  so  that  I  did  not  think  it  my 
duty  to  leave  her,  though  a  kind  Providence  spared 
her  to  me  a  little  longer,  and  she  still  lives.  I 
was  reappointed  to  the  Illinois  district.  The  Oneida 
annual  conference  was  formed  at  the  General  con- 
ference in  May,  1828.  This  made  nine  annual  con- 
ferences east,  and  eight  west  of  the  mountains.  They 
had  a  membership  in  the  nine  eastern  conferences 
of  270,210.  In  the  east  there  were  of  traveling 
preachers  984.  We  had  in  the  west,  of  traveling 
preachers,  519.  Of  members  the  west  had  150,894. 
Total  number  of  members,  421,104 ;  of  traveling 
preachers,  1,503. 

The  New  Hampshire  and  Vermont  conference 
was  formed  in  the  interim,  or  between  the  General 
conferences  of  1828  and  1832.  It  will  also  be  re- 
membered that  Canada  had  existed  as  a  separate 
annual  conference,  and  was  in  union,  as  a  conference, 
with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  these  United 
States,  and  was  regularly  supplied  with  American 
preachers,  and  superintended  by  our  American  bish- 
aps.  Being  under  the  British  laws,  that  established 
the  Qatholic  Church  in  Lower  Canada,  and  the  Church 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  293 

of  England  in  Upper  Canada,  our  people,  members, 
and  preachers  labored  under  many  civil  disabilities. 
They  thought,  under  all  the  circumstances,  that  it 
would  be  better  to  be  separated  from  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  in  these  United  States,  and  organized 
;nto  a  distinct  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  Canada; 
lect  from  among  themselves  a  bishop,  that  should 
ve  resident  among  them ;  and  thereby  avoid  many  of 
those  disabilities  that  had  fallen  so  heavily  upon 
them,  in  consequence  of  being  under  the  jurisdiction 
of  American  bishops.  Accordingly,  they  petitioned 
the  General  conference  of  1828,  at  Pittsburg,  to  set 
them  off  as  a  separate  and  distinct  Church ;  but,  after 
careful  consideration  and  investigation,  the  General 
conference,  with  great  unanimity,  resolved  that  they 
were  not  vested  with  any  constitutional  power  to 
divide  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church ;  and,  there- 
fore, declined  granting  them  their  request;  but  said, 
if  they  really  thought  their  civil  disabilities  were  a 
burden  too  grievous  to  be  borne,  they  would  throw 
no  difficulties  in  their  way,  but  leave  them  to  make 
their  own  choice,  whether  they  would  remain  as  an 
integral  part  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in 
the  United  States,  or  organize  themselves  into  a  sep- 
arate Church.  They  chose  the  latter  first,  and  then 
merged  themselves  into  the  great  Wesley  an  connection 
of  England. 

In  this  organization  of  the  Canada  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  many  false  statements  have  been  made, 
alleging  that  the  General  conference  of  1828,  at 
Pittsburg,  did  divide  the  Church.  But  be  it  dis- 
tinctly remembered,  that  no  official  act  of  that  General 
conference  can  be  produced  to  establish  the  truth  of 
this  assertion ;  so  far  from  it,  that  directly  the  con- 
trary is  the  fact  in  this  case;  and  generally,  those  who 


294  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

affirm  and  publish  this  unreasonable  falsehood,  knovr 
that  these  statements  are  at  war  with  truth,  and  they 
only  resort  to  this  subterfuge  in  order  to  justify  the 
Southern  disorganized  secession  from  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  in  1844-45,  and  thereby  claim  an- 
other division  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  by 
the  General  conference  of  1844. 

The  organization  of  all  Christian  Churches  is  the 
voluntary  association  of  individuals,  under  the  accred- 
ited supervision  of  a  Divinely-appointed  ministry  of 
OUT  Lord  J*?sus  Christ,  and  not  a  ministerial  act  sep- 
ara*6  and  apart  from  the  voluntary  choice  of  the  in- 
divicKud  consent  of  the  members  that  compose  that 
Church.  The  ministerial  act,  asserted  and  maintained, 
in  organizing  a  Church,  independent  of  the  choice  of 
the  individuals  that  compose  that  Church,  is  clearly 
"lording  it  over  God's  heritage,"  and  is  a  fearful  fea- 
ture of  Popery.  And  that  this  is  the  fact,  in  i  eference 
to  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South,  is  as  clear 
as  a  sunbeam;  for  there  are  thousands  in  the  pale  of 
that  Church  that  are  not  there  by  choice,  but  of 
necessity  of  some  kind.  And  there  are  many  that  are 
greatly  entangled  with  slavery;  so  much  so,  that  if  it 
had  been  left  to  their  choice,  they  would  have  clung  to 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  with  a  dying  grasp. 
And  there  are  thousands,  if  they  could  obtain  the  min- 
isters of  their  choice,  who  would  speedily  return  to  the 
bosom  of  the  Church,  and  hail  with  delight  the  privi- 
lege of  being  united  again  to  their  spiritual  mother. 

How  wicked  it  must  be  for  those  ministers  of  the 
Church  South,  to  fabricate  every  kind  of  story,  to 
hedge  up  the  way  of  our  ministers,  Avho,  from  the 
purest  and  most  benevolent  feelings,  go  into  the 
slave  states,  simply  to  gather  the  poor  destitute  mem- 
bers of  our  Church,  as  a  matter  of  benevolent  duty! 


PETER    CARTWRIQHT.  295 

They  cry, "  Church,  North,"  "Abolitionism,"  when  they 
know  that  most  of  our  preachers  are  not  abolitionists, 
but  occupy  the  very  ground  our  venerable  fathers 
and  founders  occupied  before  they  were  born.  They 
as  good  as  murdered  the  lamented  Kelly,  who  died 
from  the  abuse  he  received  from  the  blood-stained 
hands  of  his  persecutors,  urged  on  by  those  very  pro 
slavery  pretended  ministers.  Many  of  them  greatly 
rejoice,  and  triumph  over  having  gained  the  Church 
suits  by  the  unholy,  not  to  say  bribed  judges.  Mark 
ye !  the  blighting  curse  of  God  will  follow  these  un- 
godly and  unjust  gains ;  and  the  time  will  come,  when 
the  visible  disapprobation  of  a  just  and  holy  God  will 
be  manifest  to  all  men. 

There  is  one  circumstance  that  befell  me  at  the 
General  conference  at  Pittsburg  in  1828,  that  I  wish 
briefly  to  state ;  but,  for  the  sake  of  honorable  feelings, 
I  must  be  sparing  of  names.  Brother  Waterman, 
who  was  considerably  radicalized,  had  the  duty  as- 
signed him  of  billeting  out  the  preachers  among  the 
families  that  had  agreed  to  take  care  of  them  during 
the  General  conference.  When  I  arrived  in  Pitts- 
burg  I  went  to  brother  Waterman  to  know  where  I 
was  to  stay,  and  he  gave  me  a  ticket  to  a  gentle- 
man's house  in  Alleghany  Town;  he  was  nominally  a 
ruffle-shirted  Methodist;  he. was  rich,  and  abounded 
in  almost  all  the  good  things  of  this  world.  His  lady 
was  a  very  genteel,  fine,  fashionable  woman,  but  a 
stiff-starched  Presbyterian;  so  I  was  told.  One  of  the 
bishops  was  stationed  here,  and  two  D.  D.'s,  both 
preachers.  I,  of  course,  very  confidently  made  my 
way  to  this  gentleman's  house.  As  I  approached  the 
dwelling  I  cast  my  eye  upward,  and  through  a  win- 
dow I  saw  the  bishop  and  another  preacher  sitting 
in  an  upper  room.  When  I  reached  the  portico  the 


296  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

gentleman  met  me  at  the  entrance.  Addressing  him, 
I  said: 

"  Does  Colonel live  here  ?" 

"Yes,  sir." 

"Brother  Waterman  informed  me,  as  one  of  the 
delegates  to  the  General  conference,  that  I  was  to 
Loard  with  you  during  the  conference;  my  name  is 
Peter  Cartwright4  I  hail  from  Illinois." 

"Yes,  sir,"  said  he,  seriously;  "we  had  intended 
to  take  four  of  the  preachers,  but  my  wife  thinks  she 

can't  take  but  two,  and  Bishop and  Dr. are 

here  already,  and  we  can't  accommodate  you." 

I  felt  a  little  curious,  but  so  foolish  was  I,  that  I 
hastily  concluded  that  the  thing  was  a  trick,  played 
off  to  plague  me.  He  never  invited  me  in. 

"Well,"  said  I,  "I  must  see  the  Bishop  any  how, 
and  I  reckon  you  '11  let  me  stay;"  so  in  I  went.  Aftei 
entering, 

"Please,  sir,"  said  I,  "direct  me  to  the  Bishop's 
room."  He  did  so,  and  up  I  went,  and  ushered  myself 
into  his  magisterial  presence.  After  the  accustomed 
salutations,  which  I  thought  came  from  the  Bishop 
with  unusual  coolness,  I  said  to  him: 

"And  is  it  so  that  I  am  not  to  stay  here  after 
brother  Waterman  has  sent  me?" 

"  Too  true,  too  true,"  said  he ;  "  the  lady  of  the 
house  is  not  a  Methodist,  and  says  she  is  not  willing 
to  take  but  two." 

The  reader  may  be  sure  I  began  to  feel  bad  at  a 
mighty  rate;  the  Bishop  seated  himself,  and  began  to 
write,  looking  dry,  sour,  and  cool,  but  paid  no  fur- 
ther attention  to  me.  I  took  my  hat,  and  started 
down  stairs  in  a  mighty  hurry,  gathered  my  saddle- 
bags, and  started  off.  Just  as  I  mounted  the  steps 
leaving  his  ornamented  lot,  the  landlord  hailed  me, 


PETER    CARTWRIQHT.  297 

and  requested  ine  to  stop.  He  came  near,  and  in  a 
cold,  stiff  manner,  informed  me  that  his  wife  had  con- 
cluded that  I  might  stay,  and  invited  me  to  return. 

"  No,  sir,"  said  I,  "  it  is  too  late ;  I  can't,  under 
the  circumstances,  return;  I  have  money  enough  to 
pay  my  way ;  and  I  had  rather  pay  my  way  than  to  be 
treated  as  I  have  heen." 

"But,"  said  the  gentleman,  "you  must  not  leave 
my  house  in  this  way ;  it  will  be  a  great  reproach  to 
me  and  my  family." 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  I,  "  you  ought  to  have  thought  of 
that  sooner." 

"  Well,"  he  asked,  "  where  are  you  going  ?" 

"To  a  tavern,"  said  I,  "if  I  can  find  an  orderly 
one." 

So  on  I  went.  After  proceeding  some  distance  I 
saw  a  tavern  sign,  and  went  in,  and  after  looking 
around  a  little,  I  said  to  the  tavern-keeper : 

"  Can  I  board  with  you  for  a  month,  and  be  accom- 
modated with  a  private  room  ?" 

He  said  I  could. 

"  Do  you  keep  an  orderly  house,  or  shall  I  be  an- 
noyed by  drunkards  and  gamblers  ?" 

••My  house,  sir,"  said  he,  "is  kept  orderly;  you 
shall  not  be  annoyed  by  any  rude  company  whatever. 
Be  seated,  sir,"  said  he ;  "you  shall  have  a  room  fitted 
up  directly.  I  judge,'"  said  he,  "you*are  one  of  the 
delegates  to  the  General  conference." 

"  Yes,  sir,  I  am,"  was  my  reply. 

Said  he,  "Mr.  Waterman  was  to  have  sent  me  two 
preachers,  but  none  have  come,  unless  you  are  one 
assigned  me." 

"No,  sir,  I  am  not  sent;  I  come  on  my  own  re- 
sponsibility." 

Said  he,  "  I  am  a  member  of  no  Church,  but  my 


298  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

wife  is  a  Methodist,  and  she  will  be  glad  for  you  to 
stay  with  us." 

I  soon  began  to  feel  that  I  had  got  into  anothc-r  at- 
mosphere. I  fared  well,  was  treated  kindly,  and  had 
nothing  to  pay.  » 

Shortly  after  I  had  settled  down,  the  landlord  of 
my  first  place  sought  me  out,  and  entreated  me  to 
return  to  his  house.  He  said  his  wife  had  fitted  up  a 
comfortable  room,  and  desired  me  to  return. 

"No,  sir,"  said  I,  "  I  shall  not  do  it;  I  am  not  de- 
pendent on  you  or  yours  at  all,  and  I  am  well  provid- 
ed for  here,  and  I  mean  to  stay." 

He  went  home,  and  sent to  invite  me  back 

again.  The  messenger  said  I  ought  to  return ;  that 
the  family  were  very  much  mortified  at  the  circum- 
stance that  had  taken  place.  I  told  him  that  I  felt 
under  no  obligations  to  him  or  them ;  that  they  had 
treated  me  very  cavalierly,  and  I  should  abide  my 
determination  not  to  return  ;  but  by  invitation  I  visited 
them,  and  staid  with  them  some;  but  I  think  I  effect- 
ually humbled  their  pride  for  once. 

I  was  at  this  first  place  several  evenings  ;  but  every 
thing  seemed  to  come  wrong.  The  bishop  seemed 
as  cold  as  an  icicle,  and  as  stiff  in  his  manners  as  if 
he  had  been  the  autocrat  of  all  the  Russias.  I  felt 
that  there  was  not  the  least  congeniality  in  them,  anc* 
that  I  was  alone  in  such  company.  The  time  of  even- 
ing devotions  came  on.  The  master  of  ceremonies 
asked  me  to  lead  the  devotions;  but  the  moment 
I  was  requested  to  do  so,  it  appeared  to  me  that  thick 
darkness  fell  on  me,  and  if  ever  I  felt  the  power  of 
the  devil  physically  and  mentally,  it  was  just  then. 
I  turned  almost  blind,  literally  blind,  and  the  great 
drops  of  sweat  rolled  off  my  face.  I  was  so  blind  I 
feared  I  could  not  see  to  read  a  chapter,  hence  I 


PETER    CARTWRIOIIT.  2f){* 

turned  to  the  first  Psalm,  which  I  could,  and  had, 
repeated  often  by  memory;  but  I  found  my  meniorj 
as  defective  as  my  sight,  and  surely,  memory,  sight, 
and  all  gone,  I  made  a  very  stammering  out  at  repeat- 
ing the  first  Psalm;  but  I  stammered  over  it  in  some 
sort.  My  voice  was  usually  clear  in  those  days, 
and  I  could  sing  tolerably  well.  I  rose  and  com- 
menced singing  a  verse  of  >ne  of  our  familiar  hymns, 
but  not  a  soul  in  the  crowd,  by  name  or  nature, 
would  sing  with  me.  I  stopped  short,  and  kneeled 
down  to  pray,  but  in  all  my  life  I  was  never  in  a 
worse  plight  to  pray  but  once,  and  that  was  the  first 
time  my  leader  called  on  me  to  pray  in  public  after 
I  had  professed  religion.  I  then  thought  my  head 
was  as  large  as  a  house,  and  I  now  thought  I 
"had  no  head  at  all.  It  seemed  to  me  that  the 
devil  was  veritably  present,  and  all  around,  and  in 
every  body  and  every  thing.  I  stammered  over  a 
few  incoherent  sentences,  and  closed  by  saying 
"Amen."  And  you  may  rely  on  it,  while  in  this 
wretched  state  of  feeling,  and  before  I  was  delivered 
from  the  hour  and  power  of  temptation,  I  felt  as 
though  the  devil  reigned  triumphant,  and  had  a 
bill  of  sale  of  us  all.  The  next  day,  when  the  General 
conference  adjourned,  at  noon,  the  presiding  bishop 
called  on  me  to  close  by  prayer.  0,  how  awful  I  felt ! 
J  fell  on  my  knees  and  uttered  only  a  few  words,  and 
said  "Amen"  before  one  half  of  the  preachers  had 
fairly  got  on  their  knees.  They  looked  round  and 
scuffled  up,  and  looked  queer ;  and  I  assure  you  I  have 
no  language  at  my  command  by  which  I  could  de- 
scribe my  feelings,  for  I  felt "  unutterable  woe."  This 
state  of  bad  feelings  lasted  during  a  whole  week. 
One  night  I  heard  of  a  prayer  meeting  near  by 
I  lodged.  I  determined  to  go ;  and  it  pleased 


300  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

God  that  niglit  to  roll  back  the  clouds  that  had  covered 
me  in  'such  thick  darkness.  I  was  very  happy,  and 
the  next  evening  hastened  to  the  house  where  I 
had  made  such  a  dreadful  out  in  reading,  singing,  and 
praying.  It  so  happened  that  when  the  family  got 
ready  for  prayer,  and  sent  up  for  the  preachers  to 
come  down,  they  were  all  very  much  engaged  in  fin- 
ishing an  interesting  report.  The  bishop  said  he  could 
not  go,  and  that  he  wished  some  one  would  go  and 
hold  prayer  with  the  family,  and  let  the  rest  stay.  I 
spoke  up  and  said,  "  Let  me  go,  for  I  feel  so  much 
better  than  I  did  when  I  tried  to  pray  with  them  be- 
fore, I  want  to  go  and  try  again."  He  bade  me  go. 
I  went,  took  the  book,  read  a  chapter  readily,  sung 
a  hymn  clearly,  knelt  and  prayed  with  more  than  my 
accustomed  liberty,  and  got  happy.  The  family  wept 
We  talked,  wept,  and  sung  together,  and  I  felt  as 
independent  of  the  devil  and  a  stiff  bishop  as  if  there 
were  no  such  beings  in  the  world. 

When  the  General  conference  adjourned,  and  I 
had  started  for  the  steamboat,  the  landlady  that  I 
thought  was  so  stiff,  formal,  and  proud,  followed  me  to 
the  boat,  and  sent  by  me  a  present  of  a  silk  dress  to 
my  wife.  Why  this  dispensation  of  darkness  should 
be  permitted  to  fall  on  me  I  can  not  tell,  but  there  is 
no  doubt  on  my  mind  there  was  a  special  Provi- 
dence in  it,  if  I  only  understood  the  matter;  but  I 
leave  all  to  the  revelations  of  the  great  day  of  judg- 
ment. "  The  Lord  reigneth." 

At  our  conference,  in  the  fall  of  1828,  Galena 
charge  was  added  to  the  Illinois  district;  so  that  my 
district  reached  nearly  from  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio 
river  to  Galena,  the  extreme  north-west  corner  of  the 
state,  altogether  six  hundred  miles  long.  This  was  a 
tremendous  field  of  travel  and  labor.  Around  this 


PETER   CARTWRIGHT.  301 

district  I  had  to  travel  four  times  in  the  year,  and  I 
had  many  rapid  streams  to  cross,  mostly  without 
bridges  or  ferry-boats.  Many  of  these  streams,  when 
they  were  swollen,  and  I  had  to  cross  them  to  get  to 
my  quarterly  meetings,  I  would  strike  for  some  point 
of  timber,  and  traverse  up  and  down  the  stream  till 
I  could  find  a  drift  or  a  tree  full  en  across.  I  would 
then  dismount,  strip  myself  and  horse,  carry  my 
clothes  and  riding  apparatus  across  on  the  fallen  tree 
or  drift,  and  then  return  and  mount  my  horse,  plunge 
in  and  swim  over,  dress,  saddle  ray  horse,  and  go  on 
my  way,  from  point  to  point  of  timber,  without  roads. 
Often  night  would  overtake  me  in  some  lonesome, 
solitary  grove.  I  would  hunt  out  some  suitable  place, 
strike  fire,  for  I  always  went  prepared  with  flint,  steel, 
and  spunk,  make  as  good  afire  as  circumstances  called 
for,  tie  up  or  hopple  out  my  horse,  and  there  spend 
the  night.  Sometimes,  in  traveling  from  point  to 
point  of  timber,  darkness  would  come  upon  me  be- 
fore I  could  reach,  by  miles,  the  woods,  and  it  being 
so  dark  that  I  could  not  see  the  trees  I  was  aiming  for, 
I  would  dismount  and  hold  my  horse  by  the  bridle  till 
returning  light,  then  mount  my  horse,  and  pursue  my 
journey. 

The  northern  part  of  my  district  was  newly  settled ; 
and  where  it  was  settled  at  all,  a  few  scattered  cabins, 
with  families  in  them,  were  all  that  could  be  looked 
for  or  expected  in  a  vast  region  of  the  north  end 
of  my  district;  and  I  assure  my  readers  that  when  I 
came  upon  one  of  these  tenanted  cabins,  in  those  long 
and  lonesome  trips,  it  was  a  great  treat,  and  I  have 
felt  as  truly  thankful  to  God  to  take  shelter  in  one  of 
those  little  shanties  and  get  the  privilege  of  a  night's 
ndging,  as  I  have,  under  other  circumstances,  been 
when  I  have  lodged  in  a  fine  house,  with  all  the  com- 


302  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

forts  of  life  around  me.  I  recollect  in  one  of  my 
northern  trips,  I  had  a  very  large  and  uninhabited 
prairie  to  cross;  about  midway  across  the  prairie, 
twenty  miles  from  any  house,  I  came  to  a  deep  and 
turbid  stream ;  twenty  miles  beyond  was  the  point  I 
was  aiming  for  that  day.  The  stream  looked  ugly  and 
forbidding.  I  was  mounted  on  a  fine  large  horse,  and 
I  knew  him  to  be  an  excellent  swimmer.  I  hesitated 
for  a  moment.  To  retrace  my  steps  I  could  not  con- 
sent to,  and  if  I  advanced,  a  swim,  on  my  horse,  was 
to  be  performed,  no  timber  being  in  sight.  I  got 
down,  readjusted  my  saddle,  girded  it  tolerably  tight, 
+ied  my  overcoat  on  behind,  put  my  watch  and  pocket 
papers  in  my.  saddle-bags,  and  then  tied  them  around 
my  neck,  letting  the  en'ds  rest  on  my  shoulders,  and 
said,  "Now,  Buck  " — that  was  the  name  of  my  horse — 
"carry  me  safe  to  the  other  bank."  In  we  went;  he 
swam  over  easily,  and  rose  on  the  opposite  bank  safely. 
I  readjusted  my  affairs,  and  went  on  my  way  rejoic- 
ing, and  was  not  wet  but  a  trifle.  Three  times  this 
day  I  swam  my  horse  across  swollen  streams,  and 
made  the  cabin  I  was  aiming  for.  Here  lived  a  kind 
Methodist  family,  who  gave  me  a  hearty  welcome; 
gave  me  good  meat  and  bread,  and  a  strong  cup  of 
coffee,  and  I  was  much  happier  than  many  of  the 
kings  of  the  earth.  I  arrived  safe  at  my  quarterly 
meeting.  All  the  surrounding  citizens  had  turned  out, 
twenty-seven  in  number.  We  had  five  conversions; 
seven  joined  the  Church ;  and  we  were  nearly  all 
happy  together. 

In  one  of  those  northern  trips  I  was  earnestly  solic- 
ited to  cross  the  Mississippi  and  preach  to  the  fe^» 
new  settlers  near  what  is  now  called  Burlington 
City,  on  the  west  of  the  father  of  waters.  My  son- 
in-law,  Wm.  D.  R.  Trotter,  perhaps  was  the  first 


FETER.  CARTWRIGHT.  303 

traveling  preacher  who  broke  ground  in  the  Iowa 
state,  and  I  followed  a  short  time  afterward.  I  had 
sent  them  an  appointment  to  hold  a  two  days'  meet- 
ing, just  back  of  where  Burlington  City  stands.  Then 
there  were  only  a  few  cabins  in  the  place ;  now  it  is  a 
growing  city,  containing,  perhaps,  ten  thousand  souls. 

When  I  went  to  my  appointment,  although  there 
was  but  a  scattered  population,  yet  when  they  came 
out  to  meeting  the  cabins  were  so  small  that  there 
was  not  one  in  the  whole  settlement  which  would 
hold  the  people.  We  repaired  to  the  grove,  and 
hastily  prepared  seats.  Years  before  this  time  an 
old  tree  had  fallen  down  across  a  small  sapling  and 
bent  it  near  the  earth.  The  sapling  was  not  killed, 
and  the  top  of  it  shot  up  straight  beside  the  tree  that , 
had  fallen  on  it,  and  it  had  grown  for  years  in 
this  condition.  The  old  tree  had  been  cut  off,  and 
they  scalped  the  bark  off  of  that  part  of  the  sapling 
that  lay  parallel  with  the  ground.  They  drove  a 
stake  down,  and  nailed  a  board  to  it,  and  the  top  of 
the  sapling  that  grew  ereci,  and  this  was  my  hand- 
board,  and  I  stood  on  that  part  of  the  sapling  that 
lay  near  and  level  with  the  ground.  This  was  my 
pulpit,  from  which  I  declared  the  unsearchable 
riches  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ;  and  we  had  a 
good  meeting. 

On  the  23d  of  August,  1828,  one  of  our  beloved 
bishops,  Enoch  George,  fell  a  victim  to  death.  He 
had  been  an  itinerant  preacher  thirty-eight  years,  and 
had  honorably  discharged  the  duties  of  a  bishop  in 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  for  twelve  years. 
One  has  said  of  him,  "Bishop  George  was  a  man  of 
deep  piety,  of  great  simplicity  of  manners,  a  very  pa- 
thetic, powerful,  and  successful  preacher;  greatly  be- 
luved  in  life,  and  very  extensively  lamented  in  death." 


304  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

The  Illinois  conference  met  this  fall — September 
18,  1829 — at  Edwardsville.  Our  country  was  rap- 
idly filling  up,  our  work  constantly  enlarging,  and 
Bishop  Roberts,  at  conference  in  Vincennes,  Sep- 
tember 30,  1830,  found  it  necessary  to  divide  the  cir- 
cuits, and  multiply  the  presiding-elder  districts.  The 
following  new  districts  were  formed  in  the  bounds  of 
the  Illinois  conference,  namely:  the  Illinois  district 
was  divided  into  two — the  Kaskaskia  and  Sangamon 
districts.  The  Kaskaskia  district  embraced  the  fol- 
lowing appointments :  Kaskaskia,  Brownsville,  Jones- 
boro,  Golconda,  Mount  Vernon,  Shoal  creek,  and 
Shelbyville,  in  all  seven.  The  Sangamon  district 
embraced  the  following  appointments:  Lebanon,  Ap- 
-ple  creek,  Atlas,  Spoon  river,  Sangamon,  Salt  creek, 
Peoi'ia,  Fox  River  mission,  and  Galena  mission,  nine. 
Samael  H.  Thompson  was  appointed  to  the  Kaskas- 
kia district,  and  I  was  appointed  to  the  Sangamon 
district.  This  district  still  covered  a  large  field  of  la- 
bor, embracing  from  opposite  St.  Louis  to  the  north- 
ern limits  of  the  state. 

Within  the  bounds  of  this  district  there  lived  a  local 
preacher,  who  was  a  small,  very  easy,  good-natured, 
pleasant  man;  he  was  believed  to  be  also  a  very  pious 
man,  and  a  good  and  useful  preacher.  His  wife  was 
directly  the  reverse  of  almost  every  thing  that  was 
good,  saving  it  was  believed  she  was  virtuous.  She 
was  high-tempered,  overbearing,  quarrelsome,  and  a 
violent  opposer  of  religion.  She  would  not  fix  her  hus- 
band's clothes  to  go  out  and  preach,  and  was  unwilling 
he  should  ask  a  blessing  at  the  table,  or  pray  in  the 
family.  And  when  he  would  attempt  to  pray,  she 
would  not  conform,  but  tear  around  and  make  all  the 
noise  and  disturbance  in  her  power.  She  would 
turn  the  chairs  over  while  he  was  reading,  singing, 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  305 

or  praying,  and  if  she  could  not  stop  him  any  other 
way,  she  would  catch  a  cat  and  throw  it  in  his  face 
while  he  was  kneeling  and  trying  to  pray.  Poor 
little  man!  surely  he  was  tormented  almost  to  des- 
peration. He  had  invited  several  preachers  home 
with  him  to  talk  to  her,  and  see  if  they  could  not 
moderate  her  ;  but  all  to  no  purpose  ;  she  would  curse 
them  to  their  face,  and  rage  like  a  demon.  He  had 
insisted  on  my  going  home  with  him  several  times, 
but  I  frankly  confess  I  was  afraid  to  trust  myself.  I 
pitied  him  from  my  very  heart,  and  so  did  every  body 
else  that  was  acquainted  with  his  situation.  But  at 
length  I  yielded  to  his  importunities,  and  went  home 
with  him  one  evening,  intending  to  stay  all  night. 
After  we  arrived  I  saw  in  a  minute  that  she  was  mad, 
and  the  devil  was  in  her  as  large  as  an  alligator ;  and 
I  fixed  my  purpose,  and  determined  on  my  course. 
After  supper  he  said  to  her  very  kindly,  "  Come,  wife, 
stop  your  little  affairs,  and  let  us  have  prayer."  That 
moment  she  boiled  over,  and  said,  "  I  will  have  none 
of  your  praying  about  me."  I  spoke  to  her  mildly, 
and  expostulated  with  her,  and  tried  to  reason ;  but 
no,  the  further  I  went  the  more  wrathful  she  became, 
and  she  cursed  me  most  bitterly.  I  then  put  on  a 
stern  countenance,  and  said  to  her,  "  Madam,  if  you 
were  a  wife  of  mine,  I  would  break  you  of  your  bad 
ways,  or  I  would  break  your  neck." 

"  The  devil  you  would !"  said  she.  "  Yes,  you  are 
a  pretty  Christian,  an't  you?"  And  then  such  a  vol- 
ley of  curses  as  she  poured  on  me,  was  almost  beyond 
human  endurance. 

"  Be  still,"  said  I ;  "we  must  and  will  have  prayer." 
But  she  declared  we  should  not. 

"  Now,"  said  I  to  her,  "  if  you  do  not  be  still,  and 

behave  yourself,  I'll  put  you  out  of  doors."     At  this 
20 


306  A  U  T  0  Ii  1  u  tJ  R  A  I'  11  Y    OF 

she  clinched  her  fist,  anil  swore  she  was  one-half  alli- 
gator, and  the  other  half  snapping-turtle,  and  that  it 
•would  take  a  better  man'  than  I  was  to  put  her  out. 
It  was  a  small  cabin  we  were  in,  and  we  were  not  far 
from  the  door,  which  was  then  standing  open.  I  caught 
her  by  the  arm,  and  swinging  her  round  in  a  circle, 
brought  her  right  up  to  the  door,  and  shoved  her  out. 
She  jumped  up,  tore  her  hair,  foamed;  and  such 
swearing  as  she  uttered  was  seldom  equaled,  and 
never  surpassed.  The  door,  or  shutter  of  the  door, 
was  very  strongly  made  to  keep  out  hostile  Indians; 
I  shut  it  tight,  barred  it,  and  went  to  prayer,  and  I 
prayed  as  best  I  could,  but  I  have  no  language  at  my 
command  to  describe  my  feelings ;  at  the  same  time, 
I  was  determined  to  conquer,  or  die  in  the  attempt. 
While  she  was  raging  and  foaming  in  the  yard  and 
around  the  cabin,  I  started  a  spiritual  song,  and  sung 
loud,  to  drown  her  voice  as  much  as  possible.  The 
five  or  six  little  children  ran  and  squatted  about  and 
crawled  under  the  beds.  Poor  things,  they  were 
scared  almost  to  death. 

I  sang  on,  and  she  roared  and  thundered  on  outside, 
till  she  became  perfectly  exhausted,  and  panted  for 
breath.  At  length,  when  she  had  spent  her  force,  she 
became  calm  and  still,  and  then  knocked  at  the  door, 
saying,  "  Mr.  Cartwright,  please  let  me  in." 

"  Wul  you  behave  yourself  if  I  let  you  in  ?"  said  I. 

"0  yes,"  said  she,  "I  will;"  and  throwing  myself 
on  my  guard,  and  perfectly  self-possessed,  I  opened 
the  door,  took  her  by  the  hand,  led  her  in,  and  seated 
her  near  the  fireplace.  She  had  roared  and  foamed 
till  she  was  in  a  high  perspiration,  and  looked  pale  as 
death.  After  she  took  her  seat,  *'0,"  said  sne,  "  wriat 
a  fool  I  am  !" 

"Yes,"  said  I,  "about  one  of  the  biggest  fouls  1 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  30V 

ever  saw  in  all  my  life.  And  now,"  said  I,  "  you 
have  to  repent  for  all  this,  or  you  must  go  to  the  devil 
at  last."  She  was  silent.  Said  I,  "Children,  come 
out  here;  your  mother  won't  hurt  you  now,"  and 
turning  to  her  husband,  said,  "Brother  C.,  let  us 
pray  again."  We  kneeled  down,  and  both  prayed. 
She  was  as  quiet  as  a  lamb. 

And  now,  gentle  reader,  although  this  was  one  of 
the  hardest  cases  I  ever  saw  on  this  earth,  I  must 
record  it  to  the  glory  of  Divine  grace,  I  lived  to  see, 
in  less  than  six  months  after  this  frolic  with  the  devil, 
this  woman  soundly  converted  to  God,  and  if  there  was 
ever  a  changed  mortal  for  the  better,  it  was  this  said 
woman.  Her  children,  as  they  greAV  up,  all,  1  believe, 
obtained  religion,  and  the  family  became  a  religious, 
happy  family,  and  she  was  as  bold  in  the  cause  of  God 
as  she  had  been  in  the  cause  of  the  wicked  one. 

When  I  came  to  the  county  of  Sangamon  in  1824, 
and  rode  the  Sangamon  circuit  in  1825-26,  Spring- 
field, our  present  seat  of  government  for  the  state, 
was  a  very  small  village.  Even  the  county  seat  was 
not  located  at  it,  and  for  several  years  there  was  no 
regular  society  of  any  denomination  organized  there 
save  the  Methodist.  We  had  a  respectable  society  in 
point  of  numbers  and  religious  moral  character,  but 
they  were  generally  very  poor.  There  was  no  meet- 
ing-house or  church  in  the  place.  We  preached  in 
private  houses  almost  altogether  for  several  years. 
The  first  Presbyterian  minister  who  came  to  the 
town,  that  I  have  any  recollection  of,  was  by  the 

name  of .  He  was  a  very  well-educated  man, 

and  had  regularly  studied  theology  in  some  of  the 
eastern  states,  where  they  manufacture  young  preach- 
ers like  they  do  lettuce  in  hot-houses.  He  brought 
with  him  a  number  of  old  manuscript  sermons,  and 


308  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

read  them  to  the  people;  but  as  to  common  sense,  he 
had  very  little,  and  he  was  almost  totally  ignorant  of 
the  manners  and  usages  of  the  world,  especially  this 
new  western  world;  yet  he  came  here  to  evangelize 
and  Christianize  us  poor  heathen.  He  did  not  meet 
with  much  encouragement,  but  he  certainly  was  a 
pious,  good  man,  much  devoted  to  prayer.  He  came 
to  my  appointments,  and  we  became  acquainted. 
He,  in  part,  traveled  with  me  round  my  circuit, 
anxious  to  get  acquainted  with  the  people,  and 
preach  to  them.  He  soon  saw  and  felt  that  he  had 
no  adaptation  to  the  country  or  people.  I  told  him 
he  must  quit  reading  his  old  manuscript  sermons,  and 
learn  to  speak  extemporaneously;  that  the  western 
people  were  born  and  reared  in  hard  times,  and  were 
an  out-spoken  and  off-hand  people ;  that  if  he  did  not 
adopt  this  manner  of  preaching,  the  Methodists  would 
set  the  whole  western  world  on  fire  before  he  would 
light  his  match.  He  tried  it  a  while,  but  became  dis- 
couraged, and  left  for  parts  unknown. 

Shortly  after  this  others  came  in,  but  still  there 
was  no  church  in  the  tjwn  of  Springfield  to  worship 
in  for  any  denomination.  The  Methodists  were  poor, 
the  Presbyterians  few,  and  not  very  wealthy.  At 
length  the  citizens  put  up  a  small  school-house,  which 
was  appropriated  to  religious  purposes  on  the  Sabbath, 
but  it  was  often  attended  with  difficulty,  as  different 
ministers  of  different  denominations  would  make  their 
appointments  in  this  little  school-house,  and  their 
appointments  would  often  come  together  and  clash. 
This  was  attended  with  no  good  results,  and  at  length 
a  proposition  was  made  for  the  Methodists  and  Pres- 
byterians to  unite  and  build  a  church  between  them, 
and  define  each  denomination's  time  of  occupancy 
and  legal  rights  in  the  church  till  such  time  as  one 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  309 

Or  the  other  could  be  able  to  build  separately,  and 
then  sell  out  to  the  other  denomination.  A  subscrip- 
tion was  set  on  foot,  and  five  or  six  hundred  dollars 
subscribed. 

Thinking  all  was  right,  I  left  to  fill  my  appoint- 
ments ;  but  when  the  deed  to  this  property  was  to  be 
made,  it  was  settled  on  Presbyterian  trustees,  and  the 
Methodists  only  occupied  it  by  grace.  There  was  a 
very  honest  old  gentleman,  who  was  an  intelligent 
lawyer,  that  had  not  subscribed  any  thing,  but  intend- 
ed to;  but  he  wanted  equal  rights  and  privileges  se- 
cured to  the  Methodists,  though  he  himself  was  a  Uni- 
versalist.  lie  saw  how  things  were  driving,  and  sent 
for  me.  I  went,  and,  on  examination,  found  that  the 
agreement  between  the  two  denominations  was  violated 
in  the  deed.  I  expostulated  with  them,  but  all  in 
vain ;  they  persisted.  I  then  went,  and  immediately 
drew  up  a  subscription  to  build  a  Methodist  church, 
and  subscribed  seventy-five  dollars.  My  old  honest 
lawyer  told  me  he  would  either  give  two  lots  in  the 
new  town,  above  where  the  most  of  the  town  then  was, 
or  he  would  give  fifty  dollars.  I  took  the  two  lots,  on 
which  the  Methodist  church  now  stands. 

The  Presbyterians  went  on  and  built  the  little  brick 
shanty  that  stands  near  where  the  first  Presbyterian 
church  now  stands,  and  in  one  day  I  obtained  about 
six  hundred  dollars,  and  the  Methodists  built  their  old 
frame  meeting-house  that  stood  as  a  monument  of 
their  covetousness  for  many  years,  and,  indeed,  till 
lately,  when  they  saw  their  folly,  and  now  have  a 
fine  church.  But  still  they  ought  to  have  at  least  two 
more  good  churches  in  a  city  containing  ten  thousand 
souls,  arid  constantly  increasing  in  population,  and, 
nndoubtedly,  is  destined  to  become  a  large  inland  city, 
and,  from  its  central  position  and  railroad  facilities, 


310  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

will,  in  a  very  few  years,  contain  fifty  thousand  inhab 
Hants. 

The  securing  of  those  two  lots  at  an  early  day  in 
Springfield,  clearly  shows  the  sound  policy  of  taking 
early  measures  in  every  new  country,  city,  town,  vil- 
lage, and  prospectively  strong  settlement,  to  secure 
lots  for  churches  and  parsonages  when  they  can  be 
obtained  at  a  nominal  price,  and  often  as  a  donation. 
Our  people  and  preachers  are  often  too  negligent  in 
this  very  thing.  They  wait  till  lots  rise  in  value,  and 
sometimes  have  to  give  for  a  suitable  one,  on  which 
to  build  a  church  or  parsonage,  as  much  as  would 
erect  a  decent  house  in  which  to  worship  God.  The 
two  lots  above  named  were,  by  their  owner,  valued 
at  fifty  dollars.  They  would  now  sell,  I  suppose,  for 
seven  or  eight  thousand  dollars.  They  will  soon  be 
In  the  heart  of  the  city,  and  are  as  beautiful  lots,  for 
church  purposes,  as  are  to  be  found  in  the  city. 

A  few  years  ago  our  beloved  Bishop  Janes,  in  a 
visit  to  Springfield,  saw  clearly  its  rapid  growth,  and 
the  slowness  of  the  members  of  the  Church  in  that 
place  in  regard  to  church  extensions,  and  he  advised, 
and  organized,  through  the  mission  committee,  the 
establishment  of  a  mission  in  Springfield.  But  such 
was  the  short-sighted  policy  of  many  of  the  members 
of  the  Church  belonging  to  the  old  charge,  that  they 
directly  and  indirectly  opposed  the  establishment  of 
this  mission.  But,  through  the  strong  and  persevering 
efforts  of  the  missionaries  and  the  superintendent  of 
the  mission,  we  succeeded  in  procuring  a  lot  and 
erecting  a  neat  little  mission  church  at  a  cost  of 
something  like  twenty-seven  hundred  dollars. 

When  the  church  was  finished,  it  was  in  debt  some 
four  hundred  dollars,  and  instead  of  the  members  of 
the  old  charge,  and  the  mission  charge,  making  ao 


PETER    CARTWRIG1IT.  311 

effort  to  pay  this  indebtedness,  they  suffered  the 
church  to  be  sold  for  less  than  three  hundred  dollars; 
and  even  the  members  of  the  old  charge  devised  a 
plan  to  buy  it  in,  and  diverted  it  from  its  original 
purpose  of  a  church  to  an  academy,  for  the  benefit 
of  the  old  charge;  and,  consequently,  our  mission  was 
blown  out,  our  labor,  for  from  two  to  four  years,  lost, 
and.  in  open  violation  of  the  provisions  of  the  Discipline 
of  the  Church,  the  mission  property  was  converted 
from  Church  to  academical  purposes;  and  a  house 
and  lot,  that  had  cost  near  three  thousand  dollars, 
was  thus  sacrificed  for  a  debt  of  less  than  three  hun- 
dred dollars.  This  very  transaction  will  stand  out  to 
future  generations  as  evidence  of  the  folly  and  stu- 
pidity of  the  members  of  the  Methodist  Church  in 
Springfield,  and  will  bar  our  approach  to  the  citizens 
for  years  to  come,  when  we  desire  to  solicit  aid  to 
erect  houses  of  worship  in  our  metropolis. 

Somewhere  about  this  time,  in  1829-30,  the  cele- 
brated camp  meeting  took  place  in  Sangamon  county 
and  circuit ;  and,  as  I  suppose,  out  of  incidents  that  then 
occurred  was  concocted  that  wonderful  story  about 
my  fight  with  Mike  Fink,  which  has  no  foundation  in 
fact.  We  had  this  year  two  fine  camp  meetings  on 
the  same  ground,  a  few  weeks  apart;  at  the  first,  it 
was  thought  over  one  hundred  professed  religion, 
and  most  of  them  joined  the  Methodist  Church.  At 
the  second  camp  meeting,  over  seventy  joined  the 
Church.  Our  encampment  was  large,  and  well  seat- 
ed ;  and  we  erected  a  large  shed,  that  would,  it  was 
supposed,  shelter  a  thousand  people.  The  story  to 
which  I  have  alluded  was  published  in  "  The  National 
Magazine,"  and  brother  Finley's  Autobiography.  It 
originated,  I  believe,  in  a  paper,  published  in  New 
i  ork,  called  "  The  Sunday  Times  ;v  from  this  paper 


812  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

it  has  been  republished  almost  all  round  the  Union 
I  would  not  care  about  the  publication  of  this  story 
by  the  secular  press,  if  it  had  not  found  its  way  into 
our  religious  papers.  One  of  the  editors  of  one  of  our 
religious  papers,  who  had  published  it,  in  reply  to  a 
letter  of  mine  complaining  of  the  caricature,  and 
correcting  some  of  the  wrong  statements,  said,  "It 
was  good  enough  for  me;  and  that  if  I  would  not 
publish  a  true  history  of  my  life,  it  was  no  matter  if 
others  published  a  false  one." 

While  I  was  on  the  Sangamon  district  I  rode  one 
day  into  Springfield,  on  some  little  business.  My 
horse  had  been  an  excellent  racking  pony,  but  now 
had  the  stiff  complaint.  I  called  a  few  minutes  in  a 
store,  to  get  some  little  articles;  I  saw  in  the  store 
two  young  men  and  a  young  lady ;  they  were  strangers, 
and  we  had  no  introduction  whatever;  they  passed 
out,  and  off.  After  I  had  transacted  my  little  busi- 
ness in  the  store,  I  mounted  my  stiff  pony,  and 
started  for  home.  After  riding  nearly  two  miles,  1 
discovered  ahead  of  me  a  light,  two-horse  wagon, 
with  a  good  span  of  horses  hitched  to  the  wagon;  and 
although  it  was  covered,  yet  the  cover  was  rolled  up. 
It  was  warm  weather,  and  I  saw  in  the  wagon  those 
two  young  men  and  the  young  lady  that  I  had  seen 
in  the  store.  As  I  drew  near  them,  they  began  to  sing 
one  of  our  camp  meeting  songs,  and  they  appeared  to 
sing  with  great  animation.  Presently  the  young  lady 
began  to  shout,  and  said,  "  Glory  to  God !  Glory  to 
God!"  the  driver  cried  out,  "Amen!  Glory  to  God!" 

My  first  impressions  were,  that  they  had  been 
across  the  Sangamon  river  to  a  camp  meeting  that  1 
knew  was  in  progress  there,  and  had  obtained  religion, 
and  were  happy.  As  I  drew  a  little  nearer,  the 
young  lady  began  to  sing  and  shout  again.  The 


PETER   CART  WRIGHT.  313 

young  man  who  was  not  driving  fell  clown,  and  cried 
aloud  for  mercy;  the  other  two,  shouting  at  the  top 
of  their  voices,  cried  out,  "Glory  to  God!  another 
sinner 's  down."  Then  they  fell  to  exhorting  the  young 
man  that  was  down,  saying,  "Pray  on,  brother;  pray 
on,  brother;  you  will  soon  get  religion."  Presently 
up  jumped  the  young  man  that  was  down,  and  shouted 
aloud,  saying,  "  God  has  blessed  my  soul.  Halleluiah ! 
halleluiah !  Glory  to  God !" 

Thinking  all  was  right,  I  felt  like  riding  up,  and 
joining  in  the  songs  of  triumph  and  shouts  of  joy  that 
rose  from  these  three  happy  persons;  but 'as  I  neared 
the  w.agon,  I  saw  some  glances  of  their  eyes  at  each 
other,  and  at  me,  that  created  a  suspicion  in  my 
mind  that  all  was  not  right;  and  the  thought  oc- 
curred to  me  that  they  suspected  or  knew  me  to  be 
a  preacher,  and  that  they  were  carrying  on  in  this 
way  to  make  a  mock  of  sacred  things,  and  to  fool  me. 
I  checked  my  horse,  and  fell  back,  and  rode  slowly, 
hoping  they  would  pass  on,  and  that  I  should  not  be 
annoyed  by  them  any  more;  but  when  I  checked  my 
horse  and  went  slow,  they  checked  up  and  went  slow 
too,  and  the  driver  changed  with  the  other  young  man ; 
then  they  began  again  to  sing  and  shout  at  a  mighty 
rate,  and  down  fell  the  first  driver,  and  up  went  a 
new  shout  of  "  Glory  to  God !  another  sinner  's  down. 
Pray  on,  brother;  pray  on,  brother;  the  Lord  will  bless 
you."  Presently  up  sprang  the  driver,  saying,  "Glory 
to  God!  he  has  blessed  me."  And  both  the  others 
shouted,  and  said,  "Another  sinner 's  converted,  another 
sinner 's  converted.  Halleluiah!  glory  to  God!"  A  rush 
of  indignant  feeling  came  all  over  me,  and  I  thought 
I  would  ride  up  and  horsewhip  both  of  these  young 
men ;  and  if  the  woman  had  not  been  in  company,  I 
think  I  should  have  done  so;  but  I  forbore.  It  was  a 


314  AUTOBIOflKArilY    OF 

vexatious  encounter;  if  my  horse  had  been  fleet,  as  in 
former  days,  I  could  have  rode  right  off,  and  left 
them  m  their  glory,  but  he  was  stiff,  and  when  I 
would  fall  back  and  go  slow,  they  would  check  up; 
and  when  I  would  spur  my  stiff  pony,  and  try  to  get 
ahead  of  them,  they  would  crack  the  whip  and  keey 
ahead  of  me;  and  thus  they  tormented  me  before,  a& 
I  thought,  my  time,  and  kept  up  a  continual  roar  of 
"Another  sinner 's  down !  Another  soul 's  converted! 
Glory  to  God!  Pray  on,  brother!  Halleluiah!  hal- 
leluiah! Glory  to  God!"  till  I  thought  it  was  more 
than  any  gobd  preacher  ought  to  bear. 

It  would  be  hard  for  me  to  describe  my  feelings 
just  about  this  time.  It  seemed  to  me  that  I  was 
delivered  over  to  be  tormented  by  the  devil  and  his 
'mps.  Just  at  this  moment  I  thought  of  a  desperate 
mud-hole  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  ahead;  it  was  a 
long  one,  and  dreadful  deep  mud,  and  many  wagons 
had  stuck  in  it,  and  had  to  be  prized  out.  Near  the 
center  of  this  mud-hole  there  was  a  place  of  mud 
deeper  than  any  where  else.  On  the  right  stood  a 
Btump  about  two  feet  high;  all  the  teams  had  to  be 
driven  as  close  to  the  stump  as  possible  to  avoid  a 
deep  rut  on  the  left,  where  many  wagons  had  stuck ; 
I  knew  there  was  a  small  bridle  way  that  wound 
round  through  the  brush  to  avoid  the  mud,  and  it 
occurred  to  me  that  when  we  came  near  this  muddy 
place  I  would  take  the  bridie  way,  and  put  my  horse 
at  the  top  of  his  speed,  and  by  this  means  get  away 
from  these  wretched  tormentors,  as  I  knew  they  could 
not  go  fast  through  this  long  reach  of  mud.  When 
we  came  to  the  commencement  of  the  mud  I  took 
the  bridle  path,  and  put  spurs  and  whip  to  my  horse. 
Seeing  I  was  rapidly  leaving  them  in  the  rear,  the 
driver  cracked  his  whip,  and  put  his  horses  at  almost 


fETER    CART  WRIGHT.  315 

full  spfod,  and  such  was  their  anxiety  to  keep  up 
with  mo,  to  carry  out  their  sport,  that  when  they 
came  t3  this  bad  place  they  never  saw  the  stump  on 
the  right.  The  fore  wheel  of  the  wagon  struck  cen- 
trally on  the  stump,  and  as  the  wheel  mounted  the 
stump,  over  went  the  wagon.  Fearing  it  would  turn 
entirely  over  and  catch  them  under,  the  two  young 
men  took  a  leap  into  the  mud,  and  when  they  lighted 
they  sunk  up  to  the  middle.  The  young  lady  was 
dressed  in  white,  and  as  the  wagon  went  over,  she 
sprang  as  far  as  she  could,  and  lighted  on  all-fours; 
her  hands  sunk  into  the  mud  up  to  her  armpits,  her 
mouth  and  the  whole  of  her  face  immersed  in  the 
muddy  water,  and  she  certainly  would  have  strangled 
if  the  young  men  had  not  relieved  her.  As  they 
helped  her  up  and  out,  I  had  wheeled  my  horse  to 
see  the  fun.  I  rode  up  to  the  edge  of  the  mud, 
stopped  my  horse,  reared  in  my  stirrups,  and  shouted 
at  the  top  of  my  voice, 

"  Glory  to  God  !  glory  to  God !  halleluiah  !  another 
sinner 's  down !  glory  to  God  !  halleluiah  !  glory  ' 
halleluiah !" 

If  ever  mortals  felt  mean,  these  youngsters  did; 
and  well  they  might,  for  they  had  carried  on  all  this 
sport  to  make  light  of  religion,  and  to  insult  a  minis- 
ter, a  total  stranger  to  them.  But  they  contemned 
religion,  and  hated  the  Methodists,  especially  Meth- 
odist preachers. 

When  I  became  tired  of  shouting  over  them,  I  said 
to  them : 

"  Now,  you  poor,  dirty,  mean  sinners,  take  this  as  a 
just  judgment  of  God  upon  you  for  your  meanness, 
and  repent  of  your  dreadful  wickedness;  and  let 
this  be  the  last  time  that  you  attempt  to  insult  a 
preacher;  for  if  you  repeat  your  abominable  sport 


316  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

and  persecutions,  the  next  time  God  will  serve  you 
worse,  and  the  devil  will  get  you." 

They  felt  so  badly  that  they  never  uttered  one 
word  of  reply.  Now  I  was  very  glad  that  I  did  not 
horsewhip  them,  as  I  felt  like  doing ;  but  that  God  had 
avenged  his  own  cause,  and  defended  his  own  honor 
without  my  doing  it  with  carnal  weapons ;  and  I  may 
here  be  permitted  to  say,  at  one  of  these  prosperous 
camp  meetings  named  in  this  chapter,  I  had  the  great 
pleasure  to  see  all  three  of  these  young  people  con- 
verted to  God.  I  took  them  into  the  Methodist 
Church,  and  they  went  back  to  Ohio  happy  in  God. 
They  were  here  on  a  visit  among  their  relations  from 
that  state,  and  went  home  with  feelings  very  different 
from  those  they  possessed  when  they  left. 

There  is  another  small  incident  connected  with 
these  two  prosperous  camp  meetings  before  named. 
There  was  a  great  and  good  work  going  on  in  our 
congregation  from  time  to  time;  and  on  Sunday 
there  were  a  great  many  from  Springfield,  and  all 
the  surrounding  country.  A  great  many  professors 
of  religion  in  other  Churches  professed  to  wish  their 
children  converted,  but  still  they  could  not  trust  them 
at  a  Methodist  meeting,  especially  a  camp  meeting. 
A  great  many  of  these  young  people  attended  the 
camp  meetings,  and  on  Sunday  the  awful  displays  of 
Divine  power  were  felt  to  the  utmost  verge  of  the 
congregation.  When  I  closed  my  sermon  I  invited 
mourners  to  the  altar,  and  there  was  a  mighty  shak- 
ing among  the  dry  bones  ;  many  came  forward,  and 
among  the  rest  there  were  many  young  ladies 
whose  parents  were  members  of  a  sister  Church ; 
two  in  particular  of  these  young  ladies  came  into 
ihe  altar.  Their  mother  was  present;  and  when  she 
heard  her  daughters  we're  kneeling  at  the  altar  of 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  817 

God,  praying  for  mercy,  she  sent  an  elder  of  her 
Church  to  bring  them  out.  When  he  came  to  tell 
them  their  mother  had  sent  for  them,  they  refused  to 
go.  He  then  toot  hold  of  them,  and  said  they  must 
go.  I  then  took  hold  of  him,  and  told  him  they  should 
not  go,  and  that  if  that  was  his  business,  I  wanted 
him  to  leave  the  altar  instantly.  He  left,  and  re 
ported  to  their  mother;  and  while  we  were  kneeling 
all  round  the  altar,  and  praying  for  the  mourners, 
the  mother  in  a  great  rage  rushed  in.  When  she 
came,  all  were  kneeling  around,  and  there  was  no 
place  for  her  to  get  in  to  her  daughters.  As  I  knelt 
and  was  stooping  down,  talking,  and  encouraging  the 
mourners,  'this  lady  stepped  on  my  shoulders,  and 
rushed  right  over  my  head.  As,  in  a  fearful  rage, 
she  took  hold  of  her  daughters  to  take  them  out  by 
force,  I  took  hold  of  her  arm,  and  tried  to  reason 
with  her,  but  I  might  as  well  have  reasoned  with  a 
whirlwind.  She  said  she  would  have  them  out  at 
the  risk  of  her  life.  . 

"  They  are  my  daughters,"  said  she,  "  and  they  shall 
come  out." 

Said  I  to  her,  "This  is  my  altar  and  my  meeting, 
and  I  say,  these  girls  shall  not  be  taken  out.'* 

She  seized  hold  of  them  again.  I  took  hold  of  her, 
and  put  her  out  of  the  altar,  and  kept  her  out.  Both 
of  these  young  ladies  professed  religion,  but  they  were 
prevented  by  their  mother  from  joining  the  Meth- 
odists. She  compelled  them  to  join  her  Church, 
sorely  against  their  will.  They  married  in  their 
mother's  Church,  but  I  fear  they  were  hindered  for 
life,  if  not  finally  lost. 

I  have  often  thought  of  the  thousands  who  have 
been  awakened  and  converted  under  Methodist  preach- 
ing, but,  from  the  prejudice  of  their  husbands,  wives, 


818  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

parents,  or  children,  and  friends,  have  been  influenced 
to  join  another  branch  of  the  Church.  What  a  fear- 
ful account  will  many  have  to  give  who,  through  prej- 
udice or  bigotry,  have  opposed  their  relatives  or  friends 
in  joining  the  Church  of  their  choice;  if  these  souls  are 
lost,  who  will  have  to  answer  for  it  at  the  bar  of  God? 
"Lord,  we  saw  some  casting  out  devils  in  thy  name, 
and  we  forbade  them,  because  they  followed  not 
us."  "Forbid  them  not,"  was  the  reply  of  our  Sav- 
ior; "for  there  is  no  man  can  do  a  miracle  in  my 
name,  and  speak  lightly  of  me."  Let  us  be  careful  on 
this  subject,  for  the  loss  of  a  soul  is  a  fearful  consider- 
ation to  all. 

We  had  a  camp  meeting  in  Morgan  county,  San- 
gamon  district.  While  I  was  on  this  district  the  fol- 
lowing remarkable  providence  occurred:  There  were 
large  congregations  from  time  to  time,  many  awakened 
and  converted  to  God,  fifty  joined  the  Church.  G. 
W.  Teas,  now  a  traveling  preacher  in  the  Iowa  con- 
ference, made  the  fiftieth  person  that  joined  the 
Church.  We  had  worship  for  several  days  and  nights. 
On  Monday,  just  after  we  dismissed  for  dinner,  there 
was  a  very  large  limb  of  a  tree  that  stood  on  the  side 
of  the  ground  allotted  for  the  ladies,  which,  without  wind 
or  any  other  visible  cause,  broke  loose  and  fell,  with 
a  mighty  crash,  right  in  among  the  ladies'  seats;  but  as 
the  Lord  would  direct  it,  there  was  not  a  woman  or 
child  there  when  the  limb  fell.  If  it  had  fallen  at  any 
time  while  the  congregation  was  collected,  it  must 
have  killed  more  than  a  dozen  persons.  Just  in  the 
south  of  Morgan,  near  Lynnville,  we  had  another 
camp  meeting,  perhaps  the  same  summer.  In  the 
afternoon,  at  three  o'clock,  I  put  up  a  very  good  local 
preacher  to  preach.  He  was  not  as  interesting  as  some, 
and  the  congregation  became  restless,  especially  tho 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  319 

rowdies.  I  went  out  among  them,  and  told  them  they 
ought  to  hear  the  preacher. 

"0,"  said  they,  "if  it  was  you  we  would  gladly 
hear  you." 

"Boys,"  said  I,  "do  you  really  want  to  hear  me?" 

"Yes,  we  do,"  said  they. 

"Well,"  said  I,  "if  you  do,  go  and  gather  all  those 
inattentive  groups,  and  come  down  in  the  grove,  two 
hundred  yards  south,  and  I  will  preach  to  you." 

They  collected  two  or  three  hundred.  I  mounted 
an  old  log;  they  all  seated  themselves  in  a  shade.  1 
preached  to  them  about  an  hour,  and  not  a  soul 
moved  or  misbehaved.  In  this  way  I  matched  the 
rowdies  for  once. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

CAMP     ROWDIES. 

IN  the  fall  of  1831  our  conference  was  held  in 
Indianapolis,  Indiana,  October  4th;  Bishop  Roberts 
presided.  At  this  conference  we  elected  our  deft- 
gates  to  the  General  conference,  which  was'  to  sit  in 
Philadelphia,  May  1st.  This  was  the  fifth  delegated 
General  conference  to  which  I  was  elected,  and,  per- 
haps it  is  the  proper  place  to  say,  this  was  the  only 
General  conference  that  I  ever  missed  attending,  from 
1816  to  this  date.  My  family  were  in  great  affliction, 
which  prevented  my  attendance.  Brothers  Andrew 
and  Emory  were  elected,  and  ordained  bishops  in  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church;  and  the  Indiana  con- 
ference was  formed,  so  that  there  Avere  now  twelve 
annual  conferences  east  and  south,  and  ten  west 
and  south;  all  the  latter  formed  out  of  the  old  West- 
ern conference.  Our  numbers  in  the  west  had  risen 
to  217,659.  Our  traveling  preachers  numbered  765. 
The  others,  eastern  and  southern,  had,  in  members, 
382,060;  traveling  preachers,  1,454.  Total,  in  round 
numbers,  600,000.  Of  traveling  preachers,  2,219. 

The  reader  will  see  our  increase  in  the  old  con- 
ferences in  members,  in  four  years,  was  111,850;  and 
in  the  west,  was  66,775;  total,  177,625.  We  had  in- 
creased in  traveling  preachers,  in  the  same  length  of 
time,  716;  this  was  a  greater  increase  than  all  the 
branches  of  the  Protestant  Christian  Churches  in  the 
Union  could  number ;  and  surely,  all  the  factories  in 


PETER    CARTWRIGIIT.  321 

the  Union  that  make  preachers,  did  not,  in  the  same 
length  of  time,  graduate  as  many  preachers ;  and  in 
point  of  learning  and  real  ability,  our  increase  of 
preachers  will  compare  favorably  with  any  of  them. 

As  1832  closed  my  three  years  on  the  Sangamon 
district,  I  will  relate  an  incident  or  two  which  occur- 
red in  Fulton  county.  We  held  a  camp  meeting,  at 
vhich  good  preparations  were  made ;  many  attended, 
ind  our  prospects  for  an  interesting  meeting  were 
fair,  and  there  was  an  increasing  interest.  But  some 
!f>w  and  unprincipled  fellows,  in  the  adjoining  village 
of  Canton,  fitted  out  a  man,  who  was  perfectly  bank- 
rupt, and  sent  him  down  to  set  up  a  huckster's  shop, 
with  tobacco,  cigars,  cakes,  candies,  pies,  and  almost 
all  kinds  of  ardent  spirits.  I  went  to  him,  and  told 
him  he  should  not  disturb  us  in  vending  those  articles, 
and  that  he  must  desist ;  he  swore  he  would  not,  and 
hurled  defiance  at  me;  I  got  a  writ  and  an  officer, 
and  took  him ;  he  employed  a  young  lawyer  to  de- 
fend him;  I  prosecuted  the  suit,  and  the  jury  fined 
him  ten  dollars  and  costs.  On  saying  that  he  had 
nothing,  and  was  not  worth  a  cent  in  the  world,  the 
court  told  him  he  had  to  pay  his  fine  or  go  to  jail ; 
he  said  he  must  go  to  jail  then  ;  for  he  could  not  pay 
his  fine.  There  was  a  black-legged  gang,  that  were 
his  chief  customers,  who  swore,  if  we  attempted  to 
put  him  in  jail,  which  was  about  ten  miles  off,  that 
they  would  rescue  him,  and  give  those  who  attempted 
to  convey  him  there  a  sound  drubbing.  The  officer 
was  scared,  and  hesitated;  in  the  mean  time  I  ordered 
out  an  execution,  and  levied  on  his  whole  grocery. 
He  declared  that  these  articles  were  not  his,  but  be- 
Iqpged  to  other  men.  I  said  I  did  not  care  a  fig  who 
they  belonged  to,  and  ordered  the  officer  to  levy  on 
them,  and  I  would  indemnify  him.  When  we  had 
21 


322  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

secured  the  grocery,  and  put  it  under  guard,  our 
officer  still  hesitated  to  take  the  criminal  to  jail.  1 
told  him  to  summon  me,  and  four  other  stout  men  that 
1  named,  and  I  would  insure  the  criminal  a  safe  lodg- 
ment in  jail,  or  risk  the  consequences.  This  was 
done,  and  we  hoisted  our  prisoner  on  a  horse,  mount- 
ed our  own  horses,  well  armed  with  bludgeons,  and 
started  on  a  merry  jog.  When  we  got  about  half  way 
I  told  the  prisoner  that  he  had  better  pay  his  fine, 
and  not  disgrace  himself  by  lying  in  jail.  No,  he 
swore  he  would  not ;  so  on  we  went.  The  rowdies 
that  were  to  waylay  us  and  release  the  prisoner  never 
appeared.  When  we  got  in  sight  of  the  town  in 
which  the  jail  was,  the  prisoner  asked  me  very 
seriously,  if  we  really  intended  to  put  him  in  jail.  J 
told  him  yes,  certainly  we  did.  "  Well,"  said  he,  "  I 
can't  go  into  jail;"  and  then  pulled  out  the  money 
and  paid  his  fine  and  costs. 

We  returned  to  the  encampment,  and  the  rowdies 
were  in  a  mighty  rage  because  they  could  get  no 
drink,  for  we  had  the  groggery  under  guard.  They 
swore  if  we  did  not  release  it,  they  would  break  up 
the  camp  meeting.  I  told  them  to  ride  on,  that  we 
would  not  /elease  the  grocery,  and  we  could  whip  the 
whole  regiment.  At  candle-lighting  we  had  preach- 
ing; they  were  still  and  quiet  till  most  of  the  tent- 
holders  had  gone  to  bed.  Then  they  began  their  dirty 
deeds.  I  had  ordered  out  a  strong  watch,  and  directed 
the  lights  to  be  kept  burning  all  night.  They  began 
at  a  distance  to  bark  like  dogs,  to  howl  like  wolves, 
to  hoot  like  owls;  they  drew  near  and  crowed  like 
chickens ;  they  tried  to  put  out  our  lights,  and  threw 
chunks  at  the  tent;  but  the  guard  beat  them  bijgk, 
and  kept  them  off  nearly  all  night.  Toward  day, 
they  drew  nearer  and  nearer  still,  and  would  slap 


PETER    CAKT  Will  OBI.  823 

their  nands  and  crow  like  chickens.  One  ringleader 
among  them  came  right  before  the  preachers'  teut, 
slapped  his  hands,  and  crowed  and  passed  on.  I  step- 
ped to  a  fire  close  by,  arid  gathered  a  chunk  of  fire, 
and  threw  it,  striking  him  right  between  the  shoul- 
ders, and  the  fire  flew  all  over  him.  He  sprung,  and 
bounded  like  a  buck.  I  cried  out,  "  Take  him :  take 
him ;"  but  I  assure  you  it  would  have  taken  a  very 
fleet  man  to  have  taken  him,  for  he  ran  as  though 
the  very  devil  was  in  him  and  after  him.  When  I 
returned  to  the  tent,  one  of  the  guard  came  and  told 
me  that  they  were  taking  wheels  off  the  wagons  and 
carriages;  and  looking  through  an  opening  in  the 
tent,  I  saw  one  of  them  busy  in  loosening  my  car- 
riage behind  the  tent,  where  I  had  tied  it  to  a  sap- 
ling for  fear  they  would  run  it  off.  I  slipped  round, 
gathered  a  stick  in  my  way,  and  came  up  close 
behind  him,  and  struck  at  him,  not  with  much  intent 
to  hurt,  but  to  scare  him.  However,  the  stroke  set 
his  hat  on  one  side  of  his  head;  he  dashed  off  in  a 
mighty  fright,  and  his  hat  not  being  adjusted  right, 
it  blinded  him,  and  fleeing  with  all  speed,  he  struck 
his  head  against  a  tree,  knocked  himself  down, 
bruised  his  face  very  much,  and  lay  senseless  for 
several  minutes;  but  when  he  came  to  himself,  he 
was  as  tame  as  a  lamb,  and  his  dispensation  of  mis- 
chief was  over.  This  put  an  end  to  the  trouble  of  the 
rowdies,  and  afterward  all  was  peace  and  quiet. 

We  had  a  very  singular  and  remarkable  man 
among  us,  a  traveling  preacher  in  the  Illinois  confer 
ence ;  his  name  was  Wilson  Pitner.  He  was  at  this 
camp  meeting.  He  was  uneducated,  and  it  seemed 
impossible  for  him  to  learn;  but,  notwithstanding  hia 
want  of  learning,  and  in  common  he  was  an  ordinary 
preacher,  yet  at  times,  as  we  say  in  the  backwoods, 


324  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

when  he  swung  clear,  there  were  very  few  that  could 
excel  him  in  the  pulpit;  and  perhaps  he  was  one  of 
the  most  eloquent  and  powerful  cxhorters  that  was 
in  the  land. 

On  Monday  he  came  to  me,  and  desired  me  to  let 
him  preach  at  eleven  o'clock,  saying, 

"I  have  faith  to  believe  that  God  will  this  day 
convert  many  of  these  rowdies  and  persecutors." 

I  consented;   and  he  preached  with  great  liberty 
and   power.     Nearly   the    whole   congregation   wer 
powerfully  moved,  as  he  closed  by  calling  for  every 
rowdy  and  persecutor  to  meet  him  at  the  altar;  for, 
said  he, 

"I  have  faith  to  believe  that  God  will  convert 
every  one  of  you  that  will  come  and  kneel  at  the 
place  of  prayer." 

There  was  a  general  rush  for  the  altar,  and  many 
of  our  persecutors,  and  those  who  had  interrupted 
and  disturbed  us  in  the  forepart  of  the  meeting,  came 
and  fell  on  their  knees,  and  cried  aloud  for  mercy; 
and  it  is  certainly  beyond  my  power  to  describe  the 
scene;  but  more  than  fifty  souls  were  converted  to 
God  that  day  and  night.  Our  meeting  continued  for 
several  days,  and  about  ninety  professed  to  obtain  the 
pardon  of  their  sins,  most  of  whom  joined  the  Church, 
and  great  good  was  accomplished,  although  we  waded 
through  tribulation  to  accomplish  it. 

Such  success  often  attended  the  Gospel  labors  of 
this  brother.  lie  is  now  in  California  laboring  for 
the  good  of  souls. 

When,  in  1832,  the  Illinois  conference  was  divided, 
and  Indiana  set  off,  the  former  was  confined  to  the 
state  of  Illinois,  and  consisted  of  the  following  pre- 
bid'mg-elder  districts,  namely:  Wabash,  Kaskaskia, 
Sungarnon,  and  Mission  district.  Our  first  Illinois 


PETER   CARTWRIGHT.  825 

conference  in  its  separate  form  from  Indiana,  sat  in 
the  town  of  Jacksonville  with  the  four  above-named 
districts;  it  was  held  September  25,  1832.  The  In- 
diana preachers  met  with  us  this  fall ;  Bishop  Soule 
presided.  Our  increase  of  members  in  the  confer- 
ence this  year  was  near  three  thousand.  When  the 
Bishop  and  counsel  met,  it  was  found  that  the  country 
was  so  rapidly  filling  up,  and  the  work  enlarging  so 
constantly,  that  it  was  necessary  to  make  two  more 
presiding-elder  districts.  The  Mission  district  was 
called  Chicago,  and  the  Quincy  district  was  formed 
When  the  Illinois  conference  met  in  Jacksonville, 
and  was  organized,  there  were  thirty-five  traveling 
preachers  of  us,  and  our  membership  was  about  ten 
thousand.  I  had  traveled  now  about  twenty-eight 
years,  and  although  blessed  with  a  strong  constitution, 
I  began  to  feel  the  worse  for  wear,  and  that  I  needed 
a  little  rest.  I  therefore  asked  and  obtained  a  super- 
annuated relation  for  one  year;  but  when  the  Quincy 
district  was  formed,  there  was  not  a  man  in  the  elder- 
ship willing  to  go  to  it,  such  was  its  new  and  wilder- 
ness state.  The  Bishop  said  if  he  could  not  get  a 
presiding  elder  for  it,  it  must  be  merged  into  the 
other  districts.  I  told  him  it  ought  not  to  be  merged. 
"  Well,"  said  he,  "  what  are  we  to  do  ?  there  is  no 
one  of  these  elders  willing  to  go  to  it." 
Said  I,  "Let  me  remedy  the  evil." 
Said  Bishop  Soule,  "I  wish  you  would." 
"Well,"  said  I,  "to-morrow  morning  let  some 
brother  move  a  reconsideration  of  the  vote  by  which 
I  was  granted  a  superannuated  relation,  and  make 
me  effective;  and  if  you,  sir,  see  proper  to  appoint 
me  to  that  district,  I  am  ready  and  willing  to  go." 

This  proposition  was  agreed  to  all  round;  and  next 
morning  the  motion  to  reconsider  was  made,  put,  and 


8'ZQ  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

carried,  and  I  was  appointed  to  the  Quincy  district; 
eo  you  sec  I  have  sustained,  in  more  than  fifty  years, 
a  superannuated  relation  about  ten  hours.  The 
Quincy  district  was  composed  of  the  following  ap- 
pointments, namely:  Galena  mission,  Fort  Edwards 
mission,  Henderson  River  mission,  Blue  River  mis- 
sion, Quincy,  Rushville,  and  Canton,  commencing  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Illinois  river,  and  running  up  the  Mis- 
sissippi river  to  Galena,  the  north-west  corner  of  the 
state,  and  up  the  Illinois  river  on  its  west  side  to  near 
Peoria;  thence  due  north  to  the  northern  line  of  the 
state,  and  even  into  what  is  now  Wisconsin  state. 
We  had  in  this  district  about  fourteen  hundred  mem- 
bers. Much  of  our  district  was  new  settlements, 
formed  and  forming;  hard,  long  rides,  cabin  parlors, 
straw  beds  and  bedsteads,  made  out  of  barked  sap- 
lings, and  puncheon  bcdcords.  But  the  people  were 
kind  and  clever,  proverbially  so;  showing  the  real 
pioneer  or  frontier  hospitality.  The  men  were  a 
hardy,  industrious,  enterprising,  game-catching,  and 
Indian  driving  set  of  men.  The  women  were  also 
hardy;  they  would  think  no  hardship  of  turning  out 
and  helping  their  husbands  raise  their  cabins,  if  need 
be;  they  would  mount  a  horse  and  trot  ten  or  fifteen 
miles  to  meeting,  or  to  see  the  sick  and  minister  to 
them,  and  home  again  the  same  day.  How  different 
from  those  ladies  who  live  in  older  circles,  and  have 
grown  up  in  wealth,  luxury,  and  fashionable  life,  who 
would  faint  if  they  had  to  walk  a  hundred  yards  in 
the  sun  without  a  parasol  or  umbrella;  who  are 
braced  and  stayed  at  such  an  intemperate  rate,  that 
they  can  not  step  over  six  or  eight  inches  at  a  stop, 
and  should  they  by  any  accident  happen  to  lose  their 
moorings,  and  fall,  are  imprisoned  with  so  many 
unmentionables,  that  they  could  not  get  up  again; 


PETER    CARTWRIGI1T.  827 

and  should  a  thunder-storm  suddenly  overtake  them 
out  doors,  would  scream  as  if  the  world  were  coming 
to  an  end. 

I  was  frequently  four  or  five  weeks  from  home  at  a 
time.  On  one  of  those  trips,  in  the  northern  end  of 
this  district,  the  following  incident  occurred.  I  started 
from  home  in  order  to  attend  some  four  or  five  quar- 
terly meetings  up  north.  I  had  traveled  some  eighty 
miles,  when  a  most  tremendous  rain  fell;  it  continued 
two  nights  and  a  day;  during  which  time  I  was  com- 
fortably housed  at  a  friend's.  When  the  rain  ceased  I 
started  for  the  Henderson  River  mission.  The  whole 
face  of  the  earth,  where  it  was  level,  was  a  sheet  of 
water,  and  the  ravines  and  little  rivulets  were  swollen 
into  large  creeks.  I  had  about  thirty-six  miles  to 
travel  to  reach  my  meeting.  The  brother  at  whose 
house  I  stopped  tried  to  dissuade  me  from  any  attempt 
at  performing  my  journey,  saying  there  was  no  road 
or  path  for  twenty  miles,  and  no  house  or  cabin  till 
I  should  reach  the  Twenty  Mile  Point  of  Timber;  and 
that  I -would  have  to  steer  for  that  point  as  my  only 
guide;  that  in  low  places,  and  in  the  valleys  of 
prairies,  I  would  be  for  miles  together  out  of  sight  of 
this  point;  and  should  any  accident  befall  and  detain 
me  night  would  overtake  me,  and  I  would  lose  sight 
of  the  landmark,  and  have  to  lie  out  all  night,  and 
perhaps  might  be  lost  in  this  large  prairie  for  days; 
and,  besides,  if  I  should  be  fortunate  enough  to  reach 
the  point  of  timber,  there  was  the  large  creek,  and  no 
doubt  it  was  swimming  for  twenty  yards.  There  were 
no  bridges,  no  canoe,  and  I  could  not  find  any  fallen 
tree  that  could  possibly  reach  across,  so  that  I  would 
have  to  swim,  and  all  alone.  If  any  accident  should 
bappcn  to  me  I  would  certainly  be  drowned. 

The  prospect  looked  gloomy,  and  I  felt  some  mis- 


328  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

givings  come  over  me;  and  the  reasons  and  argu- 
ments of  my  friend  were  not  without  considerable 
effect  on  my  mind.  I  paused  for  a  few  moments,  rea- 
soning on  the  subject.  Just  then  my  old  Methodist 
preacher  motto  occurred  to  my  mind,  that  is,  "Never 
retreat  till  you  certainly  know  you  can  advance  no 
further."  And  as  my  motto  occurred  to  my  mind,  my 
purpose  was  unalterably  fixed  to  go  ahead. 

"  Brother,"  said  I,  "  as  there  is  no  road,  get  on  your 
horse  and  ride  a  little  distance  with  me,  till  I  can 
clearly  see  the  point  of  timber  that  is  to  guide  me." 

He  readily  consented,  and  did  so.  We  rode  two 
miles,  and  the  point  of  timber  was  plain  in  view.  As 
he  turned  back  he  said,  "I  should  not  be  surprised  if 
I  never  saw  you  again." 

"Well,"  said  I,  "if  I  fall,  and  you  never  see  me 
again,  tell  my  friends  that  I  fell  at  my  post,  trying  to 
do  my  duty.  Farewell." 

I  had  a  fine,  large,  faithful  horse  under  me,  and 
a  divine  Providence  above  me,  and  in  a  few  minutes 
after  my  friend  and  myself  separated  I  felt  that  I  had 
nothing  to  fear.  On  I  moved;  sometimes  in  and 
sometimes  out  of  sight  of  my  landmark;  sometimes 
nearly  swimming  in  the  little  branches,  but  every  step 
I  left  the  prairie  in  the  distance,  and  neared  my  point 
of  timber.  There  was  so  much  water,  and  the  ground 
was  so  soft,  I  could  make  hut  slow  progress;  but 
every  time  I  rose  on  the  high  ground,  from  the  low 
valleys  in  the  prairie,  my  point  of  timber  seemed 
nearer  and  nearer  still.  At  length,  about  three 
o'clock,  I  reached  the  timber  in  safety ;  rode  up  and 
hailed  the  cabin,  but  there  was  no  person  at  home. 
I  saw  in  the  distance,  about  fourteen  miles  off,  my 
next  point  of  timber,  and  contiguous  to  the  place  of 
holding  my  quarterly  meeting.  I  conrludt-d  to  make 


PETER   CARTWRlaiTT.  329 

a  hard  push  and  go  through  that  afternoon ;  but  here 
was  the  large  creek  to  cross,  only  two  hundred  yards 
ahead  of  me.  I  concluded  to  go  above  the  timber 
and  cross  it ;  but  when  I  came  to  it  I  found  it  had 
swollen  and  spread  out  at  least  two  hundred  yards  on 
the  level  ground.  I  could  not  tell  how  far  I  would 
have  to  swim  on  my  horse.  I  rode  in  about  one-third 
the  apparent  distance  across.  My  horse  was  nearly 
swimming.  I  concluded  it  would  be  too  far  for  me 
to  risk  a  swim  on  horseback.  It  occurred  to  me  that 
"prudence  was  the  better  part  of  valor,"  so  I  retreated. 
I  then  pursued  the  creek  down  the  timber,  in  search 
of  a  drift  or  tree  across  the  stream,  where  I  could 
carry  my  things  over,  and  then  return  and  swim 
my  horse,  without  wetting  all  my  traveling  apparatus. 
At  length  I  found  a  tree  that  had  been  felled  across  a 
narrow  part  of  the  creek,  that  I  thought  answered  my 
purpose  admirably,  but  by  this  time  it  was  nearly 
night,  and  if  I  got  safe  over  the  creek  I  could  not 
make  the  distance  to  the  next  point  of  timber,  and 
should  have  to  lie  out  without  food  for  myself  or  my 
horse.  I  came  to  a  halt,  and  thinking  that  the  occu- 
pants of  the  cabin  I  had  just  passed  would  be  in  at 
night,  I  concluded  to  retrace  my  steps  and  get  quar- 
ters for  the  night.  So  back  I  came  to  the  cabin,  but 
still  there  was-  no  one  at  home.  I  concluded,  at  home 
or  not  at  home,  I  should  lodge  there  that  night.  So 
down  I  got,  opened  the  door  of  the  cabin,  and  usher- 
ed myself  in.  I  found  they  had  covered  up  some  fire 
in  the  ashes,  to  keep  in  their  absence,  which  made 
me  still  hope  they  would  come  home  some  time  that 
night.  I  went  out  and  stripped  my  horse,  and  put 
him  up  and  fed  him,  and  then  my  next  care  was  for 
something  to  eat  myself.  By  this  time  I  had  a  good 
appetite.  I  went  and  made  up  a  little  6re,  and  in  a 


880  A  U  T  0  B  I  0  (J  R  A  r  II  T    OF 

small  corner  cupboard,  made  of  clapboards,  back- 
woods fashion,  to  my  great  joy  I  found  a  pan  of  corn 
bread,  nicely  baked,  and,  though  cold,  it  relished 
well.  In  one  corner  of  the  wooden  chimney  there 
hung  some  excellent  dried  venison.  I  pulled  out 
some  coals  and  broiled  my  venison,  and  had  a  hearty 
meal  of  it.  And  now,  thought  I,  if  I  only  had  a  good 
cup  of  coffee,  I  should  have  the  crowning  point 
gained  of  a  good  and  pleasant  meal.  In  looking 
about  in  the  cupboard,  I  found  a  tin  bucket  full  of 
excellent  honey  in  the  comb.  I  took  it  out,  got  some 
water  in  a  tin  cup  that  was  on  the  shelf,  sweetened 
the  water  with  the  honey,  and  found  in  it  an  excellent 
substitute  for  coffee.  There  was  a  nice  clean  bed,  in 
which  I  slept  unusually  sound.  Next  morning  I  rose 
early,  fed  my  horse,  prepared  my  breakfast,  much  af- 
ter the  fashion  of  my  supper,  saddled  my  horse,  and 
started  on  my  journey. 

When  I  came  to  the  creek  it  had  fallen  consider- 
ably, but  was  still  swimming.  I  carried  all  my  travel- 
ing fixtures  over  perfectly  dry ;  stripped  myself,  went 
back,  mounted  my  horse,  went  over  safe,  dressed  my- 
self, knelt  down  and  offered  my  sincere  thanks  to 
God  foi  his  providential  care  over  me,  and  the  mercy 
he  had  showed  me,  and  went  on  my  way  shouting  and 
happy. 

I  arrived  at  the  place  of  the  quarterly  meeting,  and 
found  the  few  scattertd  members,  six  in  all,  and  about 
eight  who  were  not  members,  ,ind  these  comprised 
the  whole  settlement,  save  one  family  who  lived  close 
by,  the  head  of  which  was  a  great  persecutor  of  the 
Methodists.  He  said  he  had  moved  there,  in  that 
new  and  out-of-the-way  place,  especially  to  get  rid  of 
those  wretched  people  called  Methodists,  but  he  had 
scarcely  got  into  his  rude  cabin  before  here  was  the 


PETER    CARTWRIUIIT.  331 

Methodist  preacher,  preaching  hell  fire  and  damna- 
tion, as  they  always  did. 

On  Monday  morning  I  went  over  to  see  him.  He 
was  a  high-strung  predestinarian  in  his  views;  be- 
lieved, or  professed  to  believe,  that  God  had  decreed 
every  thing  that  comes  to  pass.  After  introducing 
myself  to  him,  he  presently  bristled  up  for  an  argu- 
ment. I  told  him  I  had  not  come  to  debate,  but  to 
invite  him  to  the  Savior.  He  said  he  could  not  re- 
ceive any  thing  from  rne,  for  he  cordially  despised  the 
Methodists.  I  told  him  if  God  had  decreed  all  things, 
he  had  decreed  that  there  should  be  Methodists,  and 
that  they  should  believe  precisely  as  they  did,  and  that 
they  were  raised  up  by  the  decree  of  God  to  torment 
him  before  his  time,  and  that  he  must  be  a  great  sim- 
pleton to  suppose  that  the  Methodists  could  do  or  be- 
lieve any  thing  but  what  they  did ;  and  now,  my  dear 
sir,  you  must  be  a  vile  wretch  to  want  to  break  the 
decrees  of  God,  and  wish  to  exterminate  the  Method- 
ists; that  if  his  doctrine  was  true,  the  Methodists 
were  as  certainly  fulfilling  the  glorious  decrees  of 
God,  which  were  founded  in  truth  and  righteousness, 
as  the  angels  around  the  burning  throne;  and  several 
admonitions  I  gave  him,  and,  by  the  by,  he  had  some 
feeling  on  the  subject.  I  talked  kindly  and  prayed 
with  him,  and  left. 

After  I  left  he  began  to  think  on  the  topics  of 
conversation,  and  the  more  he  thought  the  more  hia 
mind  became  perplexed  about  these  eternal  decrees. 
When  he  would  sit  down  to  eat,  or  ride,  or  walk  the 
road,  he  would  soliloquize  on  the  subject.  After  cut- 
ting off  a  piece  of  meat  arid  holding  it  on  his  fork, 
ready  to  receive  it  into  his  mouth,  he  would  say,  "  God 
jecreed  from  all  eternity  that  I  should  eat  this  meat, 
but  I  will  break  that  decree,"  and  down  he  would  dash 


S32  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

it  to  the  dogs.  As  he  walked  the  paths  in  the  settle- 
ment and  came  to  a  fork,  he  would  say, "  God  from  all 
eternity  decreed  that  I  should  take  the  right-hand  path, 
but  I  '11  break  that  decree,"  and  he  would  rush  to  the 
left.  As  he  rode  through  the  settlement,  in  coming  to 
a  stump  or  tree,  he  would  rein  up  his  horse  and  say, 
*'  God  has  from  all  eternity  decreed  that  I  should  go 
to  the  right  of  that  stump  or  tree,  but  I  will  break 
that  decree,"  and  would  turn  his  horse  to  the  left. 

Thus  he  went  on  till  his  family  became  alarmed, 
thinking  he  was  deranged.  The  little  settlement, 
also,  was  fearful  that  he  had  lost  his  balance  of  mind 
At  length,  deep  conviction  took  hold  of  him ;  he  sau 
that  he  was  a  lost  and  ruined  sinner,  without  an  in- 
terest in  Jesus  Christ.  He  called  the  neighbors  to 
come  and  pray  for  him,  and,  after  a  long  and  sore 
conflict  with  the  devil  and  his  decrees,  it  pleased 
God  to  give  him  religion,  and  almost  all  his  family 
were  converted  and  joined  the  Methodist  Church,  and 
walked  worthy  of -their  high  and  holy  calling. 

At  another  quarterly  meeting  in  this  mission  on 
Sunday,  we  had  twenty-seven  for  our  congregation, 
and  yet  the  scattered  population  were  all,  or  nearly 
all,  there  for  many  miles  around,  and  when  we  ad- 
ministered the  sacrament  on  Sabbath,  we  had  just  seven 
communicants,  preachers  and  all.  Brother  Barton 
Randle,  now  a  superannuated  member  of  the  Illi- 
nois annual  conference,  was  the  missionary.  Though 
a  man  of  feeble  health  and  strength,  yet  he  was 
faithful  in  hunting  up  the  lost  sheep  in  this  new  and 
laborious  field  of  labor.  He  suffered  many  priva- 
tions and  hardships,  but  he  endured  all  as  seeing  Him 
who  is  invisible,  arid  I  have  thought  that  he  was  one 
among  the  very  best  missionaries  I  was  ever  ac- 
quainted with.  He  did  great  good  in  this  new  and 


•          PETER   CAKTWEiaHT.  333 

rising  country,  and  laid  firmly  the  foundation  of 
future  good,  which  the  increasing  and  now  densely- 
populated  country  has  realized.  Long  since  this 
mission  has  formed  many  large  circuits  and  self-sup- 
porting stations,  and  no  doubt  many,  in  the  great  day 
of  retribution,  will  rise  up  and  call  brother  Randle 
blessed,  and  he  will  hail  many  of  his  spiritual  children 
in  heaven  from  this  field  of  labor.  Brother  Randle 
was  the  first  missionary  that  was  sent  to,  and  formed 
this  mission,  and,  at  the  close  of  his  year,  he  returned 
seventy-five  members. 

The  Rock  Island  mission  was  formed  in  1832,  and 
Philip  T.  Cordier  was  appointed  missionary.  He  was 
a  man  of  feeble  talents,  unstable,  and  did  but  little 
good.  He  was  finally  expelled.  I  do  not  know  what 
has  become  of  him.  On  my  first  visit  to  Rock  Island 
mission,  which  was  chiefly  located  in  what  was  then 
called  Wells's  settlement,  a  few  miles  above  the  mouth 
of  Rock  river,  the  river  had  been  very  high,  but  was 
fallen  considerably.  There  was  an  old  ferry-boat  at 
the  lower  ford.  The  ferryman  was  a  very  mean 
man,  charged  high,  and  imposed  very  much  on 
travelers.  Some  thought  the  river  might  be  forded, 
others  thought  that  it  would  swim.  I  was  a  total 
stranger,  and  although  I  had  no  money  to  pay  my 
ferriage,  yet  I  did  not  wish  to  swim  if  I  could  well 
avoid  it,  so  I  rode  up  and  hailed  the  ferryman.  A 
asked  him  if  the  river  was  fordable. 

"No,"  said  he,  "it  is  swimming  from  bank  to  bank 
nearly,  and  it  is  a  very  dangerous  ford  in  the  bar- 
gain." 

"  Well,"  said  I,  "  what  do  you  do  with  strangers 
who  have  no  money  ?  I  am  out,  but  shall  return  this 
way  on  Monday.  If  -you  will  ferry  me  over  you  shall 
then  be  sure  of  your  pay." 


334  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF  fc 

"I  won't  do  it,"  said  he.  "You  must  leave  some- 
thing in  pawn  till  you  return,  or  I  will  not  set  you 
over." 

"What  shall  Heave?" 

"  Your  overcoat,"  said  he. 

"  No,  sir ;  perhaps  I  shall  need  it  before  that  time, 
and  if  you,will  not  trust  me  I  am  afraid  to  trust  you." 

"  Well,"  said  he,  "  you  can't  get  over.  I  won't 
trust  you." 

I  felt  a  little  indignant,  and  turned  off,  saying, 
"  My  horse  is  a  much  better  ferry-boat  than  your 
own,  and  he'll  trust  me."  So  I  determined  to  take  a 
swim.  Just  as  I  turned  off  from  the  ferryman  I  saw 
a  man  on  horseback  ride  down  to  the  river's  edge  on 
the  other  side.  He  waded  his  horse  in  and  came  over 
without  swimming  at  all.  This  stranger  told  me 
there  was  no  better  ford  on  any  river  in  the  world, 
and  that  there  was  not  the  least  danger  on  earth.  I 
told  him  what  the  ferryman  said. 

"Ah,"  said  he,  "you  have  made  a  blessed  escape, 
for  if  you  had  left  your  overcoat  you  never  would 
have  got  it  again.  He  is  a  great  rascal,  and  makes 
his  living  by  foul  means." 

So  I  passed  over  in  safety,  and  had  the  pleasure  of 
keeping  my  overcoat.  When  I  got  to  brother  Wells's 
I  found  a  good  little  society,  all  in  peace,  and  we  had 
a  very  pleasant  little  quarterly  meeting. 

Here,  on  the  north  side  of  Rock  river,  on  the 
rising  ground  from  the  Mississippi  bottom,  stands  the 
site  of  one  of  the  oldest  Indian  towns  in  the  north  or 
north-west.  It  is  a  beautiful  site  for  a  city.  There 
were  to  be  seen  lying,  bleached  and  bleaching,  the 
bones  of  unnumbered  thousands  of  these  poor,  wild, 
and  roaming  races  of  beings.  It  was  the  center  of 
the  vast,  and  powerful,  unbroken,  warlike  tribes  of 


P  K  T  E  K    C  A  l:  T  W  tt  I  <;  11  T.  335 

the  north-west  This  particular  spot  was  claimed  by 
the  notorious  Black  Hawk  and  his  tribe.  If  they  had 
been  a  civilized  people,  and  had  known  the  real  arts 
of  war,  it  would  have  been  utterly  impossible  for  the 
Americans  to  have  vanquished  and  subdued  them  as 
they  have  done.  When  I  looked  over  the  fields  in 
cultivation  by  the  whites,  where  the  ground  had,  for 
ages,  been  the  country  of  thousands  of  Indians,  a 
spirit  of  sorrow  came  over  me.  Ilad  they  been  an 
educated  and  civilised  people,  there  no  doubt  would 
now  be  standing  on  this  pre-eminent  site  as  splendid  a 
city  as  New  York.  But  they  are  wasted  away  and 
gone  to  their  long  home.  I  saw  a  scattered  few  that 
were  crowded  back  by  the  unconquerable  march  of 
the  white  man. 

On  another  visit  to  a  quarterly  meeting  on  the 
Rock  Island  mission,  brother  H.  Summers,  a  trav- 
eling presiding  elder  in  the  Rock  River  conference, 
accompanied  me.  We  had  a  pleasant  meeting,  and 
it  was  believed  that  good  was  done.  I  had  taken  and 
distributed  a  good  many  religious  books  in  the 
mission,  which  were  eagerly  sought  for  by  the  com- 
munity. Brother  Summers  and  myself  concluded  to 
cross  at  the  upper  ford  on  Rock  river.  About  mid- 
way in  the  river  was  a  very  slippery  rock,  which 
could  be  avoided  by  keeping  up  stream  considerably, 
but  somehow  I  missed  the  safe  track,  and  my  horse 
got  on  this  slippery  rock,  and  all  of  a  sudden  he 
slipped  and  fell.  My  saddle  turned,  off  I  went,  and 
the  first  thing  I  knew  I  saw  my  saddle-bags  floating 
down  with  great  rapidity,  for  the  water  ran  very 
swift.  1  left  my  horse  to  get  up  as  best  he  could,  and 
took  after  my  saddle-bags.  I  had  a  tight  race,  but 
overtook  them  before  they  sunk  so  as  to  disappear. 
They  were  pretty  well  filled  with  water.  My  books 


136  AUTOBIOGRAPHI    OF 

and  clothes  had  all  turned  Campbellites,  for  thera 
was  amch  water;  and  I  escaped,  not  by  the  skin  of 
« j  teeth,  but  by  the  activity  of  my  heels.  My  horse 
•ose,  and,  with  all  the  calmness  of  old  Diogenes, 
•raded  out,  and  left  me  to  do  the  same.  Brother 
Summers  could  not  maintain  his  usual  gravity,  but  I 
assure  you  all  his  fun  was  at  my  expense.  I  had 
scarcely  a  dry  thread  about  me,  but  on  we  went,  and 
reached  Pope  River  settlement  that  night. 

The  Galena  mission,  I  think,  was  formed  in  1827. 
ft  was  a  singular  providence,  somehow,  that,  notwith- 
standing Galena  was  in  my  district  for  several  years, 
yet,  by  high  waters,  sickness  of  my  horses,  myself, 
and  family,  I  was  never  able  to  reach  a  single  appoint- 
ment in  Galena,  and  to  this  day  I  have  never  seen  her 
hills,  walked  her  streets,  or  explored  her  rich  mineral 
stores  or  mines;  and  although  I  have  always  borne  the 
name  of  a  punctual  attendant  on  my  appointments,  it 
seems  strange  to  me  that  I  never  reached  that  inter- 
esting point. 

In  the  fall  of  1834  and  1835,  William  D.  R.  Trotter 
rode  and  preached  on  the  Henderson  River  mission 
he  was  my  son-in-law.  On  one  occasion  when  I  at- 
*ended  one  of  his  quarterly  meetings,  there  was  no 
parsonage,  and  but  few  families  comfortably  situated 
to  board  with.  During  the  meeting  it  rained  almost 
constantly,  and  then  turned  cold,  and  there  fell  a 
considerable  quantity  of  snow.  I  was  in  my  gig 
or  one-horse  sulky.  As  I  was  to  return  home  from 
this  quarterly  meeting,  my  daughter  concluded  that 
she  would  go  with  me,  and  spend  a  few  weeks  with 
jier  mother.  I  told  her  I  knew  the  streams  were  very 
high,  and  it  was  doubtful  whether  we  could  get  along. 
She  said  she  thought  if  I  could  get  along  she 
could.  So  Ave  started  in  my  two-wheeled  vehicle. 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  337 

In  a  few  miles  we  reached  Spoon  river.  At  a 
little  village  called  Ellisville,  the  river  was  very  full 
and  rapidly  rising;  no  ferry-boat,  no  comfortable 
house  to  stay  at.  One  of  the  citizens  of  the  village 
had  a  canoe ;  but  how  was  I  to  take  my  carriage  over 
a  rapid  stream  on  a  canoe?  The  man  said  he  could 
do  it;  and,  rather  than  stay  for  any  length  of  time 
among  a  drunken,  swearing,  rowdy  crowd,  I  conclud- 
ed to  try  it.  Down  we  went;  I  took  out  my  horse, 
took  off  the  harness,  and  took  the  harness  and  all 
the  traveling  appendages  into  the  canoe;  took  in 
my  daughter;  took  my  harness,  bridle,  and  led  my 
horse  in,  and  swam  him  over  by  the  side  of  the  canoe. 
I  landed  all  safe,  and  then  returned  with  the  manager 
of  the  canoe  for  my  carriage;  we  rolled  it  into  the 
water,  centered  it  as  well  as  we  could;  balanced  it, 
and  I  held  on  to  it  while  he  paddled  and  managed 
the  canoe ;  and  over  we  went  safe  and  sound ;  geared 
up,  hitched  to,  and  started  on  through  the  mud  for 
Lewistown,  and  got  there  safe.  We  put  up  with 
Judge  Phclps,  a  fine  man,  and  his  wife  an  excellent 
woman,  and  very  friendly  family;  and  we  were  not 
only  made  welcome  but  comfortable.  That  night  it 
snowed,  and  covered  the  ground  several  inches.  Next 
morning  we  started  early,  and  crossed  the  Illinois 
river  just  above  the  mouth  of  Spoon  river,  which  we 
had  crossed  the  day  before.  We  met  some  travelers 
in  the  afternoon,  who  told  us  that  the  waters  of  tie 
Sangamon  river  were  out  for  five  miles,  and  that  we 
could  not  reach  the  ferry-boat  without  swimming. 
We  then  turned  our  course  up  Salt  creek,  which 
emptied  into  the  Sangamon  river  above  where  we 
had  intended  to  cross  it.  Just  before  sundown 
we  reached  Salt  creek,  where  was  a  miserable  old 
rotten  ferry-boat,  and  Salt  creek  out  of  its  banks  a 
22 


838  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

mile.  The  ferryman  told  us  he  could  ferry  us  over 
the  main  channel  of  the  stream,  and  he  had  no  doubt 
we  could  wade  out  without  swimming  if  we  could  find 
the  way.  It  was  at  least  a  mile  to  the  bluff;  he  said 
if  we  kept  the  road  we  would  swim.  We  could  only 
tell  where  the  road  was  by  a  little  space  along,  clear 
of  weeds  and  grass.  He  said  if  we  kept  on  ground 
where  we  could  see  the  tops  of  the  weeds  and  grass, 
there  was  no  danger,  but  if  we  could  not  see  these, 
not  to  venture,  for  there  were  many  ponds  clear  of 
weeds  and  grass  as  well  as  the  road.  This  seemed  to 
me  to  be  a  very  dangerous  undertaking.  But  my 
daughter  urged  me  on.  I  had  great  confidence  in 
my  horse ;  he  was  large  and  strong,  and  an  excellent 
swimmer;  so  over  we  went.  There  were  a  few  rods 
of  earth  uncovered  with  water;  and  then  we  took 
water  for  the  bluffs.  We  could  see  very  distinctly 
the  windings  of  the  road  by  the  little  space  that  was 
clear  of  weeds  and  grass;  but  presently  we  would 
come  to  a  large  space  clear  of  weeds  and  grass;  these 
we  took  to  be  ponds,  and  would  wind  round  them 
and  come  back  to  our  watery  road.  In  this  tedious 
way  we  got  along  slowly,  though  making  all  the 
speed  we  could  without  injuring  my  horse.  As  we 
neared  the  bluffs,  darkness  was  closing  in  on  us  very 
fast;  at  length  we  got  within  about  three  rods  of  the 
bluffs,  and  we  could  not  see  the  tops  of  weeds  and 
grass,  neither  to  the  right  nor  ieft,  nor  in  front;  I 
turned  up  stream,  and  :hen  down  stream,  but  all  my 
pilots  had  disappeared.  I  was  brought  to  a  stand. 
Said  I  to  my  daughter: 

"  Let 's  swim  it ;  Gray  will  ferry  us  over  safe." 

"Agreed,"  said  she. 

Said  I,  "Take  a  firm  hold  of  the  gig,  and  sink  or 
swim,  never  let  go,  and  Gray  will  make  land." 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  339 

S«  in  I  drove,  when,  behold?  it  was  not  swimming, 
and  my  horse  waded  out  safe.  We  then  had  four 
miles  to  go,  without  road  or  pilot,  and  very  dark.  1 
took  my  course  by  the  evening  star,  and  soon  arrived 
at  a  friend's  house;  was  kindly  received  and  comfortably 
entertained  by  my  old  brother,  Dr.  Ballard,  in  New 
Market,  then  Sangamon  county.  He  has  long  since 
fallen  asleep,  left  earth  for  heaven,  and  is  reaping  his 
reward  among  the  blessed. 

I  have  thus  given  a  small  sketch  of  some  of  the 
perilous  scenes  through  which  early  Methodist  preach- 
ers had  to  pass,  to  show  the  Methodist  preachers  of 
the  present  day  the  difference  between  walking  on 
Turkey  carpets,  and  eating  yellow-legged  chickens,  and 
walking  on  mud  and  water,  and  eating  nothing  for 
days  at  a  time. 

The  Fort  Edwards  mission  was  formed,  I  believe, 
in  1832-33.  D.  B.  Carter  was  the  first  missionary 
appointed  to  this  mission;  he  returned  at  the  next 
conference  fifty-three  members.  Brother  Carter  was 
a  man  of  small  literary  acquirements.  When  he 
professed  religion  he  could  not  read  a  hymn  intelli- 
gibly, but  believing  God  had  called  him  to  preach 
the  Gospel,  he  industriously  applied  himself  to  books, 
and  soon  learned  to  read  very  well.  He  was  not 
a  brilliant  or  profound  theologian ;  but  he  was  a  pious, 
zealous,  useful  minister  of  Jesus  Christ;  and  during 
his  short  ministerial  career  many  were  the  seals  of 
his  ministry.  He  was  much  beloved  in  life,  and 
greatly  lamented  in  death.  After  a  few  years  of 
zealous,  useful  labors,  the  fell  disease,  consumption, 
seized  on  him;  he  lingered  in  a  superannuated  relation 
a  year  or  two,  and  then  died  a  peaceful  and  happy 
ieath.  Many  in  the  great  day  of  judgment  will 
rise  up  and  call  him  blessed. 


840  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

The  Fort  Edwards  mission  lay  up  and  down  the 
east  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  from  Quincy  City  tc 
Fort  Edwards,  which  stood  where  the  city  of  Warsaw 
now  stands;  thence  up  the  Mississippi  to  the  celebra- 
ted foot  of  what  is  called  the  Lower  Rapids,  where,  in 
after  times,  was  erected  the  idolatrous  city  of  Nau- 
voo,  under  the  supervision  of  the  grand  impostor 
Joseph  Smith,  who  was  and  is  claimed  as  the  Mor- 
mon Prophet. 


PETER   CABTWRIGHT.  341 


CHAPTER  XXH. 

MORMONI8M. 

PERMIT  me  to  make  a  few  remarks  about  the  blas- 
phemous organization  called  the  Mormons,  or  Latter- 
day  Saints.  The  original  absurdity  and  trifling  char- 
acter of  Joe  Smith  and  his  coadjutors,  is  a  matter  of 
history,  known  and  understood  of  all  the  intelligent 
reading  community  that  have  sought  information  on 
the  subject,  and  therefore  need  not  be  stated  here  by 
me.  But  there  are  a  few  facts  I  will  state  that  have 
come  under  my  own  personal  knowledge;  for  it  has 
fallen  to  my  lot  to  be  appointed  to  travel  in  the 
region  of  country  in  Illinois  most  infested  with  this 
imposture. 

After  the  Mormons  were  driven  from  Missouri  for 
their  infamous  and  unlawful  deeds,  they  fled  to  Illinois, 
Joe  Smith  and  all,  and  established  themselves  at 
Nauvoo,  or  the  foot  of  the  Lower  Rapids,  on  the  east 
side  of  the  Mississippi.  At  an  early  day  after  they 
were  driven  from  Missouri  and  took  up  their  resi- 
dence in  Illinois,  it  fell  to  my  lot  to  become  acquaint- 
ed with  Joe  Smith  personally,  and  with  many  of  their 
leading  men  and  professed  followers.  On  a  certain 
occasion  I  fell  in  with  Joe  Smith,  and  was  formally 
and  officially  introduced  to  him  in  Springfield,  then 
our  county  town.  We  soon  fell  into  a  free  conversa- 
tion on  the  subject  of  religion,  and  Mormonism  in 
particular.  I  found  him  to  be  a  very  illiterate  and 


342  ACTOBIOGRArilY    OP 

impudent  desperado  in  morals,  but,  at  the  same  time, 
ne  liad  a  vast  fund  of  low  cunning. 

In  the  first  place,  he  made  his  onset  on  me  by  flat- 
tery, and  he  laid  on  the  soft  sodder  thick  and  fast. 
lie  expressed  great  and  almost  unbounded  pleasure 
in  the  liigh  privilege  of  becoming  acquainted  with 
me,  one  of  whom  he  had  heard  so  many  great  and 
good  things,  and  he  had  no  doubt  I  was  one  among 
God's  noblest  creatures,  an  honest  man.  He  believed 
that  among  all  the  Churches  in  the  world  the  Meth- 
odist was  the  nearest  right,  and  that,  as  far  as  they 
went,  they  were  right.  But  they  had  stopped  short 
by  not  claiming  the  gift  of  tongues,  of  prophecy,  and 
of  miracles,  and  then  quoted  a  batch  of  Scripture  to 
prove  his  positions  correct.  Upon  the  whole,  he  did 
pretty  well  for  clumsy  Joe.  I  gave  him  rope,  as 
the  sailors  say,  and,  indeed,  I  seemed  to  lay  this 
flattering  unction  pleasurably  to  my  soul. 

"Indeed,"  said  Joe,  "if  the  Methodists  would  only 
advance  a  step  or  two  further,  they  would  take  the 
world.  We  Latter-day  Saints  are  Methodists,  as  far  as 
they  have  gone,  only  we  have  advanced  further,  and 
if  you  would  come  in  and  go  with  us,  we  could  sweep 
not  only  the  Methodist  Cburch,  but  all  others,  and 
you  would  be  looked  up  to  as  one  of  the  Lord's  great- 
est prophets.  You  would  be  honored  by  countless 
thousands,  and  have  of  the  good  things  of  this  wend 
all  that  heart  could  wish." 

I  then  began  to  inquire  into  son,,*  of  the  tenets  of 
the  Latter-day  Saints,  lie  explained.  I  criticised  his 
explanation  till,  unfortunately,  we  got,  into  high  de- 
bate, and  he  cunningly  concluded  that  his  first  bait 
would  not  take,  for  he  plainly  saw  I  was  not  to  be  llat- 
tered  out  of  common  sense  and  honesty.  The  next 
pass  he  made  at  me  was  to  move  upon  my  fears.  lie 


PETER    CARTWKIOIIT.  348 

*aid  that  in  all  ages  of  the  world  the  good  and  right 
way  was  evil  spoken  of,  and  that  it  was  an  awful 
thing  to  fight  against  God. 

"Now,"  said  he,  "if  you  will  go  with  me  to  Nauvoo, 
I  will  show  you  many  living  witnesses  that  will  testify 
that  they  were,  hy  the  saints,  cured  of  bliudiiess, 
lameness,  deafness,  dumbness,  and  all  the  diseases 
that  human  flesh  is  heir  to;  and  I  will  show  you,* 
said  he,  "that  we  have  the  gift  of  tongues,  and  can 
speak  in  unknown  languages,  and  that  the  saints  can 
drink  any  deadly  poison,  and  it  will  not  hurt  them;" 
and  closed  by  saying,  "the  idle  stories  you  hear 
about  us  are  nothing  but  sheer  persecution." 

I  then  gave  him  the  following  history  of  an  en- 
counter I  had  at  a  camp  meeting  in  Morgan  county, 
some  time  before,  with  some  of  his  Mormons,  and 
assured  him  I  could  prove  all  I  said  by  thousands 
that  were  present. 

The  camp  meeting  was  numerously  attended,  and 
we  had  a  good  and  gracious  work  of  religion  going  on 
among  the  people.  On  Saturday  there  came  some 
twenty  or  thirty  Mormons  to  the  meeting.  During 
the  intermission  after  the  eleven  o'clock  sermon  they 
collected  in  one  corner  of  the  encampment,  and  began 
to  sing,  and  they  sang  well.  As  fast  as  the  people 
rose  from  their  dinners  they  drew  up  to  hear  the 
singing,  and  the  scattering  crowd  drew  up  till  a 
large  company  surrounded  them.  I  was  busy  regula- 
ting matters  connected  with  the  meeting.  At  length, 
according,  I  have  no  doubt,  to  a  preconcerted  plan, 
an  old  lady  Mormon  began  to  shout,  and  after  shout- 
ing a  while  she  swooned  awuy  and  fell  into  the  arms 
of  her  husband.  The  old  man  proclaimed  that  i>J* 
wife  had  gone  into  a  trance,  and  that  when  she  came 
to  she  wjuld  speak  in  an  unknown  tongue,  and  that 


344  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

he  would  interpret.  This  proclamation  produced 
considerable  excitement,  and  the  multitude  crowded 
thick  around.  Presently  the  old  lady  arose  and 
began  to  speak  in  an  unknown  tongue,  sure  enough. 

Just  then  my  attention  was  called  to  the  matter.  I 
aw  in  one  moment  that  the  whole  maneuver  was  in- 
eiided  to  bring  the  Mormons  into  notice,  and  break 
up  the  good  of  our  meeting.  I  advanced  instantly 
toward  the  crowd,  and  asked  the  people  to  give  way 
and  let  me  in  to  this  old  lady,  who  was  then  being 
held  in  the  arms  of  her  husband.  I  came  right  up 
to  them,  and  took  hold  of  her  arm,  and  ordered  her 
peremptorily  to  hush  that  gibberish;  that  I  would 
have  no  more  of  it;  that  it  was  presumptuous,  and 
blasphemous  nonsense.  I  stopped  very  suddenly  her 
unknown  tongue.  She  opened  her  eyes,  took  me  by 
the  hand,  and  said, 

"My  dear  friend,  I  have  a  message  directly  from 
God  to  you." 

I  stopped  her  short,  and  said,  "  I  will  have  none  of 
your  messages.  If  God  can  speak  through  no  better 
medium  than  an  old,  hypocritical,  lying  woman,  I 
will  hear  nothing  of  it."  Her  husband,  who  was  to 
be  the  interpreter  of  her  message,  flew  into  a  mighty 
rage,  and  said, 

"  Sir,  this  is  my  wife,  and  I  will  defend  her  at  the 
risk  of  my  life." 

I  replied,  "Sir,  this  is  my  camp  meeting,  and  I 
will  maintain  the  good  order  of  it  at  the  risk  of  my 
life.  If  this  is  your  wife,  take  her  off  from  here,  and 
clear  yourselves  in  five  minutes,  or  I  will  have  you 
under  guard." 

The  old  lady  slipped  out  and  was  off  quickly.  The 
old  man  staid  a  little,  and  began  to  pour  a  tirade  of 
abuse  on  me.  I  stopped  him  short,  and  said,  "Not  an- 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  345 

other  word  of  abuse  from  you,  sir.  I  have  no  doubt 
you  are  an  old  thief,  and  if  your  back  was  examined, 
no  doubv  you  carry  the  marks  of  the  cowhide  for 
your  villainy."  And  sure  enough,  as  if  I  had  spoken 
by  inspiration,  he,  in  some  of  the  old  states,  had  been 
lashed  to  the  whipping-post  for  stealing,  and  I  tell 
you  the  old  man  began  to  think  other  persons  had 
visions  besides  his  wife,  but  he  was  very  clear  from 
wishing  to  interpret  my  unknown  tongue.  To  cap 
the  climax,  a  young  gentleman  stepped  up  and  said 
he  had  no  doubt  all  I  said  of  this  old  man  was  true, 
and  much  more,  for  he  had  caught  him  stealing  corn 
out  of  his  father's  crib.  By  this  time,  such  was  the 
old  man's  excitement  that  the  great  drops  of  sweat 
ran  down  his  face,  and  he  called  out, 

"  Do  n't  crowd  me,  gentlemen ;  it  is  mighty  warm." 

Said  I,  "Open  the  way,  gentlemen,  and  let  him 
out."  When  the  way  was  opened  I  cried,  "Now 
start,  and  do  n't  show  your  face  here  again,  nor  one 
of  the  Mormons.  If  you  do  you  will  get  Lynch 'a 
law." 

They  all  disappeared,  and  our  meeting  went  on 
prosperously,  a  great  many  were  converted  to  God, 
and  the  Church  was  much  revived  and  built  up  in  her 
holy  faith. 

My  friend,  Joe  Smith,  became  very  restive  before 
I  got  through  with  my  narrative ;  and  when  I  closed, 
his  wrath  boiled  over,  and  he  cursed  me  in  the  name 
of  his  God,  and  said,  "  I  will  show  you,  sir,  that  I  wil) 
raise  up  a  government  in  these  United  States  which 
will  overturn  the  present  government,  and  I  will  raise 
up  a  new  religion  that  will  overturn  every  other  form 
of  religion  in  this  country !" 

"Yes,"  said  I,  "uncle  Joe;  but  my  Bible  tells  m« 
'the  bloody  and  deceitful  man  shall  not  live  out  half 


340  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

his  days ;'  and  I  expect  the  Lord  will  send  the  devil 
after  you  some  of  these  days,  and  take  you  out  of  the 
way." 

"No,  sir,"  said  he;  "I  shall  live  and  prosper,  while 
you  will  die  in  your  sins." 

"Well,  sir,"  said  I,  "if  you  live  and  prosper,  you 
must  quit  your  stealing  and  abominahle  whoredoms !" 

Thus  we  parted  to  meet  no  more  on  earth  j  for  in  a 
few  years  after  this,  an  outraged  and  deeply-injured 
people  took  the  law  into  their  own  hands  and  killed 
him,  and  drove  the  Mormons  from  the  state.  They 
should  be  considered  and  treated  as  outlaws  in  every 
country  and  clime.  The  two  great  political  parties  in 
the  state  were  nearly  equal,  and  these  wretched  Mor- 
mons, for  several  years,  held  the  balance  of  power, 
and  they  were  always  in  market  to  the  highest  bid- 
der ;  and  I  have  often'been  put  to  the  blush  to  see  our 
demagogues  and  stump  orators,  from  both  political 
parties,  courting  favors  from  the  Mormons,  to  gain  a 
triumph  in  an  election.  Any  man  or  set  of  men  that 
would  be  mean  enough  to  stoop  so  low  as  to  connive 
at  the  abominations  of  these  reckless  Mormons,  surely 
ought  to  be  considered  unworthy  of  public  office, 
honor,  or  confidence.  But  this  is  the  way  with  all 
demagogues,  and  if  our  happy  and  glorious  Union  is 
destroyed,  it  will  be  done  by  these  office-seekers,  who 
go  for  their  own  little  ir  significant  selves,  while  the 
true  love  of  uountry  is  an  eternal  stranger  in  their 
traitorous  hearts. 

One  fact  I  wish  here  to  mention,  that  ought  to  be 
made  public.  When  Joe  Smith  was  announced  a 
candidate  for  President  of  these  United  States,  almost 
every  infidel  association  in  the  Union  declared  in  his 
favor.  I  traveled  extensively  through  the  eastern 
States  and  cities,  as  well  as  in  the  west,  that  year, 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  347 

and  I  must  say  this  was  literally  true,  as  far  as  I  con- 
versed with,  or  obtained  reliable  information  of  those 
infidel  associations  or  individuals.  Does  not  this  speak 
volumes  ?  and  ought  it  not  to  teach  the  friends  of  re- 
ligion an  impressive  lesson? 

Great  blame  has  been  attached  to  the  state,  the 
citizens  of  Hancock  county,  in  which  Nauvoo  is  situ- 
ated, as  well  as  other  adjoining  counties,  for  the  part 
they  acted  in  driving  the  Mormons  from  among  them. 
.But  it  should  be  remembered  they  had  no  redress  at 
law,  for  it  is  beyond  all  doubt  that  the  Mormons  would 
swear  any  thing,  true  or  false.  They  stole  the  stock, 
plundered  and  burned  the  houses  and  barns  of  the 
citizens,  and  there  is  no  doubt  they  privately  murdered 
some  of  the  best  people  in  the  county ;  and  owing  to 
the  perjured  evidence  always  at  their  command,  it 
was  impossible  to  have  any  legal  redress.  If  it  had 
not  been  for  this  state  of  things,  Joe  Smith  would  not 
have  been  killed,  and  they  would  not  have  been  driven 
with  violence  from  the  state.  Repeated  efforts  were 
made  to  get  redress  for  these  wrongs  and  outrages, 
but  all  to  no  purpose;  and  the  wonder  is,  how  the 
people  bore  as  long  as  they  did  with  the  outrageous 
villainies  practiced  on  them,  without  a  resort  to  violent 
measures.  I  claim  to  know  all  about  the  dreadful 
conduct  of  the  Mormons,  and  could  state  in  detail  the 
facts  in  these  cases,  but  think  it  unnecessary.  This 
much  I  think  it  my  duty  to  state,  at  least- to  palliate 
the  seeming  high-handed  measures  of  our  wronged 
and  oppressed  citizens. 

In  the  fall  of  1833  our  Illinois  conference  was 
held  in  Union  Grove,  Padfield's,  St.  Clair  county, 
September  25tli.  It  fell  to  the  lot  of  Bishop  Soule  to 
take  this  western  tour,  in  the  summer  previous  to  our 
conference.  lie  came  to  my  house  on  his  westero 


348  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

round  of  conferences.  He  traveled  in  a  two-horse  car- 
riage, with  an  excellent  span  of  horses,  and  he  need- 
ed such,  for  the  Missouri  conference  sat  in  Arkansas 
territory,  at  Salem,  Washington  county,  a  long  way 
in  the  interior,  and  west  of  the  Mississippi.  He  had 
mountains  to  climb  and  large  rivers  to  cross,  through 
a  sparsely-populated  country.  My  son-in-law,  Wil- 
liam D.  II.  Trotter,  rode  the  Blue  River  mission, 
which  was  in  Pike  and  Calhoun  counties,  and  lay 
directly  in  the  Bishop's  route.  My  quarterly  meet- 
ing was  in  this  mission.  Trotter,  the  missionary,  was 
at  my  house,  so  we  started  in  company  with  the 
Bishop.  After  we  crossed  the  Illinois  river,  we  had 
a  hilly  country  to  pass  through  to  get  to  the  quarterly 
meeting,  almost  without  roads.  So  steep  were  some 
of  the  hills,  and  so  deep  the  hollows  and  ravines,  that 
we  had  to  loose  the  horses  from  the  Bishop's  carriage 
and  let  it  down  by  hand;  then  hitch  on  and  drive  up 
the  hills.  It  seemed  to  me  that  if  these  were  episco- 
pal honors,  I  would  beg  to  be  excused  from  wearing 
them ;  and  really  it  appeared  to  me  that  it  was  enough 
to  discourage  a  bishop  himself.  But  those  who  know 
Bishop  Soule,  know  him  to  be  a  man  of  indomitable 
courage. 

After  much  labor  to  man  and  beast,  we  got  safe  to 
the  quarterly  meeting.  The  Bishop  staid  with  us 
over  Sabbath,  and  preached  two  excellent  sermons, 
which  had  a  good  effect  on  the  congregations;  and 
the  curiosity  of  many  was  gratified,  for  if  circum- 
stances had  not  transpired  to  bring  him  to  our  camp 
quarterly  meeting,  they  would  have  lived  and  died 
without  ever  seeing  a  Methodist  bishop. 

Our  western  country,  in  certain  locations,  was,  in 
1832  and  1833,  fearfully  visited  with  that  dreadful 
scourge,  the  cholera.  On  Monday  of  our  camp  meet- 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  349 

ing,  a  very  severe  case  of  cholera  took  place  with  a 
hearty  young  man,  that  terminated  fatally  in  eight  or 
ten  hours.  The  people  generally  believed  it  to  be 
contagious;  hence  we  deemed  it  most  prudent  to 
close  the  meeting,  though  our  prospects  for  a  good 
meeting  were  very  encouraging.  Bishop  Soule,  with 
great  labor  and  fatigue,  prosecuted  his  journey,  and 
reached  the  Missouri  conference,  but  was  taken  sick 
with  a  violent  attack  of  fever,  so  that  he  did  not  re;' 
our  conference  till  the  last  hour  of  its  session,  'la 
conference  had  elected  me  as  their  president.  We 
had  done  all  our  business,  and  the  council  had  made 
out  all  the  appointments,  and  we  were  just  about 
adjourning,  when  the  Bishop  arrived.  I  sent  a  mes- 
senger to  him,  and  inquired  of  him  if  he  wished  to 
say  any  thing  to  the  conference;  but  he  declined 
coming  into  the  room,  and  requested  all  those  who 
had  been  elected  to  office  to  wait  till  he  had 
rested  a  little,  being  much  fatigued,  and  he  would 
ordain  them.  They  did  so,  and  were  ordained  ac 
cordingly. 

At  this  conference,  in  the  fall  of  1883,  the  brethren 
in  Jacksonville,  though  few  in  number  and  compar- 
atively poor,  petitioned  for  a  stationed  preacher. 
Their  request  was  granted,  and  Thomas  J.  Starr  was 
appointed  their  preacher.  Few  and  poor,  however, 
as  the  brethren  in  Jacksonville  were,  there  was  a 
great  improvement,  in  point  of  numbers  and  wealth, 
from  the  time  of  their  first  organization  as  a  class  till 
now.  I  am  sorry  that  it  is  out  of  my  power  to  give 
the  date  of  the  organization  of  the  first  class  in  Jack- 
sonville, but  I  think  it  was  in  1827,  when  it  was  em- 
braced in  what  was  then  called  the  Mississippi  circuit, 
and  Thomas  Randle  and  Isaac  House  were  the  circuit 
preachers.  In  the  course  of  this  year  the  first  quar- 


3.*>0  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

tcrly  meeting  ever  held  in  Jacksonville  Avas  held  in  a 
log-house,  owned  by  old  father  Jordan.  It  Avas  held 
up  stairs,  and  I  well  remember  it  Avas  an  interesting 
quarterly  meeting.  In  1831  the  Jacksonville  circuit 
was  formed  from  a  part  of  the  old  Mississippi  circuit, 
and  John  Sinclair,  noAv  of  the  Rock  River  conference, 
was  the  circuit  preacher;  but  from  the  rapid  growth 
of  the  town,  and  increase  of  population,  the  Method- 
ists have  two  large  churches  and  pastoral  charges, 
and  there  are  many  more  churches  in  the  city,  be- 
longing to  other  denominations.  The  Presbyterians 
have  a  flourishing  college  located  here,  and  the  Meth- 
odists have  a  female  college,  numerously  attended. 
There  is  also  another  flourishing  female  college  in 
Jacksonville,  but  to  what  denomination  it  belongs, 
or  whether  to  any  particular  one,  I  am  not  prepared 
to  say.  The  Illinois  State  Hospital  for  the  Insane, 
the  Deaf  and  Dumb  Asylum,  the  Institute  to  Educate 
the  Blind,  all  under  the  fostering  care  of  the  state, 
are  located  in  Jacksonville.  Indeed,  it  is  the  Athena 
of  Illinois,  and  speaks  loudly  in  favor  of  the  state, 
and  of  the  citizens  of  Jacksonville  and  surrounding 
country  in  particular.  These  institutions  have  high 
claims  on  all  benevolent  sympathizers  in  human  woe, 
and  all  the  real  friends  of  a  sanctified  literature  that 
will  issue  streams  of  light  and  life,  to  bless  unnum- 
bered thousands  of  our  fallen  race. 

Our  Illinois  conference,  for  1834,  was  held  at 
Mount  Carmel,. October  1st.  This  year  the  brethren 
in  the  toAvn  of  Rushville  desired  to  be  organized  into 
a  station,  and  pledged  themselves  for  the  support  of  a 
preacher.  I  consented,  and  appointed  T.  N.  Ralston, 
and  it  has  remained  a  station  ever  since. 

At  one  of  our  early  camp  meetings  in  Schuyler 
county,  Rushville  circuit,  there  was  a  general  relig- 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  851 

ous  excitement.  Many  professed  religion  and  joined 
the  Church.  Among  the  rest  was  a  very  intelligent 
nnd  interesting  young  lady,  a  Roman  Catholic.  She 
*,vas  deeply  convicted,  and  knelt  at  the  altar  and 
prayed  fervently  for  mercy,  and,  after  a  sore  conflict, 
she  found  peace  in  believing  in  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  Her  conversion  was  a  very  clear  one.  She 
joined  the  Methodist  Church,  and  desired  me  to  bap- 
tize her.  I  inquired  of  her  whether  she  had  not  been 
baptized.  She  told  me  she  had  been  baptized  by  the 
Roman  priest,  but  she  was  aware  of  her  own  knowl- 
edge that  the  priest  was  a  very  wicked  man,  and  that 
she  did  not  believe  he  had  any  right  to  administer  the 
ordinances  of  the  Church  on  account  of  his  wicked 
ness,  and,  therefore,  she  was  dissatisfied  with  her  bap 
tism.  After  mature  reflection  on  the  subject  I  bap- 
tized her,  and  she  proved  to  be  a  worthy  member  of 
the  Church. 


Sf>2  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

CONVERSION    OF    A    FAMILY. 

IN  the  course  of  this  year,  1834,  we  had  a  cainp 
meeting  in  Knox  county,  Henderson  River  mission. 
There  was  a  goodly  number  tented,  and  a  fine  turn 
out  of  people,  for  the  number  of  settlers  in  this  new 
and  rising  country.  Our  encampment  was  pitched  in 
a  beautiful  little  grove,  on  an  eminence,  surrounded 
by  prairie  on  every  hand. 

There  was  in  this  settlement  an  interesting  and  in- 
telligent family  from  one  of  the  eastern  states.  The 
younger  members  of  the  family  consisted  of  several 
young  men  and  young  ladies.  The  young  people 
liked  the  Methodists,  and  were  deeply  convicted  ;  the 
old  people,  particularly  the  old  lady,  were  very  much 
opposed  to  them.  Living,  as  they  did,  close  by  the 
camp-ground,  they  put  their  Yankee  ingenuity  to 
work  to  keep  their  children  away  from  the  meeting ; 
but  finding  they  could  not  accomplish  it,  they  at  once 
determined  to  pitch  their  tent  on  the  camp-ground, 
and  then  they  thought  they  would  have  a  better  op- 
portunity to  watch  the  children,  and  counteract  any 
influence  we  might  exert  upon  them.  They  pretended 
to  be  very  friendly,  to  save  appearances.  The  old 
lady,  for  the  purpose  of  disarming  me,  treated  me 
very  kindly,  and  invited  me  to  eat  with  them,  which 
[  did.  In  the  mean  time  one  of  the  daughters,  who 
was  deeply  convicted,  told  me  all  about  her  mother's 
opposition  to  the  Methodists,  and  her  schemes  to  pre- 


?ETER   CARTAVRIOTIT.  353 

vent  Ler  children  from  being  influenced  to  become 
religious. 

One  Saturday  evening  I  invited  the  seekers  of 
religion  to  come  forward  to  the  altar  for  the  pray- 
ers of  the  Church.  Two  of  her  daughters  came  for- 
ward and  knelt  in  prayer.  A  young  sister,  almost 
as  much  opposed  to  the  Methodists  as  her  mother, 
went  into  the  altar  with  a  phial  of  hartshorn,  and  while 
her  two  sisters  were  trying  to  pray  she  slipped  the 
hartshorn  to  their  nose,  in  order  to  drive  them  up  and 
prevent  their  seeking  religion.  I  very  soon  detected 
her  in  her  operations,  and  took  hold  of  her  hand, 
wrenched  the  phial  from  her,  led  her  out  of  the  altar, 
and  told  her  if  I  caught  her  in  there  any  more  on 
such  business,  I  would  pitch  her  out  and  publicly  ex- 
pose her. 

While  I  was  talking  to  and  praying  with  these 
two  young  ladies  and  others,  I  saw  the  old  lady,  their 
mother,  come  and  take  her^eat  outside  of  the  altar, 
immediately  opposite  her  daughters,  and  if  at  any 
time  she  thought  I  was  not  watching  her,  she  would 
kick  them  in  their  sides  to  drive  them  up.  I  watched 
her  very  closely,  and  when  in  the  act  of  kicking  them, 
I  took  hold  of  her  foot  and  gave  her  a  strong  push 
backward,  and  over  she  tumbled  among  the  benches. 
Being  a  large,  corpulent  woman,  she  had  some  consid- 
erable tussle  to  right  herself  again.  So  in  this  way 
I  defeated  the  scheme  of  the  devil  once  more.  The 
girls  became  very  much  engaged,  but  while  there  were 
many  still  pressing  to  the  altar,  and  my  attention  for 
a  moment  was  called  off,  the  old  lady  contrived  to  get 
them  out  of  the  altar  into  the  tent.  As  soon  as  I  dis- 
covered what  was  done,  I  gathered  two  or  three  good 
singers  and  praying  persons,  and  followed  them  into 
the  tent,  and  commenced  singing;  I  then  gave  them 


3f)-t  A  TI  T  0  B  I  0  0  K  A  P  H  Y    OF 

an  exhortation;  then  said,  "Let  us  pray,"  and  called 
on  the  father  of  the  girls  to  pray  for  his  children,  but 
he  refused ;  I  then  called  on  their  mother  to  kneel  down 
and  pray  for  her  children,  and  she  refused.  In  the 
mean  time  two  of  the  boys,  as  well  as  the  two  girls, 
became  very  much  affected,  and  cried  for  mercy;  and 
presently  the  third  daughter,  that  had  used  the  harts- 
horn in  the  altar,  got  awfully  convicted,  and  begged 
all  present  to  pray  for  her,  or  she  would  be  lost  and 
damned  forever.  This  was  too  much  for  the  old  peo- 
ple; they  became  awfully  alarmed,  and  wept  bitterly; 
and  you  may  be  sure  the  whole  tent  was  in  a  mighty 
uproar.  The  singing,  praying,  and  exhortations  were 
kept  up  nearly  all  night.  Four  of  the  family  were 
powerfully  converted,  and  the  sectarian  devil  in  the 
old  father  and  mother  was  effectually  disarmed,  and 
from  that  blessed  night  they  became  a  religious  family; 
all  joined  the  Methodist  Church,  and,  as  far  as  I  know, 
walked  worthy  of  their  high  vocation.  May  they  all 
prove  faithful  till  death,  and  then  receive  a  crown  of 
life! 

While  on  the  Quincy  district — the  town  of  Quincy 
was  a  very  small  and  sickly  place — I  remember 
spending  near  two  weeks  in  it  when,  if  rny  recollec- 
tion serves  me,  there  was  but  one  family  where  there 
was  no  affliction.  In  some  families  there  were  one, 
two,  or  three  confined  to  their  beds  with  fever,  and 
sometimes  the  whole  family  were  sick  together,  and 
not  one  able  to  help  another.  I  went  from  house  to 
house,  not  only  to  minister  to  their  temporal  wants, 
but  to  pray  with  them,  and  point  the  sick  and  dying 
to  Christ.  Many  died,  and  it  was  with  great  difficulty 
that  we  could  muster  enough  persons  able  to  bury 
the  dead. 

There  was  one  case  which,  in  a  very  special  manner, 


PETER    CARTWRTGHT.  355 

nffected  my  mind.  Under  the  hill,  close  by  the  brnk 
of  the  river,  there  was  what  was  called  a  tavern.  It 
was  a  poor,  filthy  place  at  best ;  the  general  resort  of 
boatmen,  and,  in  a  word,  all  kinds  of  bad  company 
resorted  to  this  house.  A  young  man,  from  some  of 
the  eastern  states,  had  come  out  to  explore  the  west, 
and  was  taken  sick  on  the  boat,  on  the  river,  and  was 
left  at  this  miserable  house.  He  was  a  professed 
Christian,  and  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Church. 
Ko  medical  aid  could  be  obtained,  no  nurse,  and,  in 
a  word,  na  care  was  taken  of  him.  In  this  deplorable 
ccndition,  he  heard  that  there  was  a  Methodist 
preacher  in  town,  visiting  the  sick.  He  sent  for  me, 
and  I  went  to  see  him.  He  told  me  who  he  was, 
where  his  parents  lived,  and  that  he  had  a  consider- 
able sum  of  money  with  him,  and  he  wanted  me  to 
take  charge  of  it,  for  he  was  sure  if  it  was  known  he 
had  money,  he  should  be  robbed  of  it.  I  took  charge 
of  his  money,  told  the  landlord  to  give  him  all  the 
attention  he  could,  and  I  would  see  him  paid.  The 
sick  man  said  he  was  sensible  he  must  die,  but  that 
he  was  not  willing  to  die  at  that  house,  and  begged 
me  to  have  him  removed,  if  possible.  I  knew  of  a 
very  comfortable  place,  a  few  miles  in  the  country, 
and  caused  his  removal  there.  Here  he  lingered  for  a 
while,  and  then  died.  He  had  requested  me,  in  case 
f  his  decease,  to  have  him  decently  buried,  pay  out 
of  his  money  his  tavern  bill,  his  funeral  expenses, 
and  write  to  his  parents  that  they  might  come  to  get 
his  clothes  and  money.  I  did  as  requested.  His 
younger  brother  came,  got  his  money  and  clothes, 
and  although  it  was  a  mournful  dispensation  to  his 
relatives,  yet  it  afforded  them  great  comfort  to  know 
that  he  died  among  friends,  though  strangers. 

This  is  one  among  many  cases  of  the  kind  that 


356  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

from  an  early  day  came  under  my  notice,  in  Avhich 
enterprising  men  have  come  to  the  far  west,  have 
been  taken  sick,  and  died  among  strangers,  uncared 
for. 

We  had  a  camp  meeting  in  Adams  county,  Quincy 
circuit,  and  it  was  numerously  attended.  There  was 
a  gracious  work  of  religion  going  on  among  the  peo- 
ple, and  there  was  a  pretty  clever,  intelligent  old 
gentleman,  who  had  moved  into  the  settlement  from 
Kentucky,  who,  in  that  state,  had  been  a  Baptist 
preacher,  but  had  got  his  mind  confused  with  Alex- 
ander Campbell's  dogmas  about  experimental  religion. 
He  had  a  fine  family,  and  some  of  them  knew  what 
real  religion  was.  He  and  family  attended  our  camp 
meeting.  He  was  very  fond  of  argument  on  almost 
all  theological  subjects.  He  tried  to  get  me  into  de- 
bate during  the  meeting,  but  I  told  him  I  was  there 
for  other  and  better  business  He  denied  the  opera- 
tions of  the  Spirit,  its  testimony  bearing  witness  with 
our  spirits  that  we  are  the  children  of  God ;  and  said 
all  those  happy  feelings  professed  by  Christians  were 
nothing  but  excitement;  that  there  was  no  religion 
in  it. 

On  Sunday  night  a  most  tremendous  power  fell  on 
the  assembly,  and  a  general  shout  went  up  to  heaven 
from  hundreds  of  Christians.  Among  the  crowd  of 
happy  and  shouting  Christians  this  gentleman's  wife 
ind  daughter  were  exceedingly  happy,  and  shouted 
aloud.  The  old  gentleman  could  not  stand  it;  he  fled 
behind  the  tent,  lighted  his  pipe,  and  tried  to  smoke 
away  his  bad  feelings.  After  laboring  in  the  altar  a 
long  time,  I  stepped  back  to  get  a  drink  of  water,  and 
there  sat  this  old  Campbellite  preacher,  and  the  cloud 
of  smoke  from  his  pipe  was  fearful ;  he  seemed  to  be 
insensible  of  what  he  was  about,  and  the  pipe  and  to- 


PETER    CARTWRTGHT.  857 

bacco  were  paying  tribute  to  his  reveries  at  a  mighty 
rate.  I  stepped  up  to  him  and  tapped  him  on  tht 

shoulder,  and  said,  "Come,  Mr.  ,  go  with  me, 

and  I  will  show  you  more  happy  Christians  than  you 
ever  saw  among  the  Campbellites  in  all  your  life." 

"Sir,"  said  he,  "it  is  all  delusion;  they  are  not 
happy." 

"But,"  said  I,  "your  wife  and  daughter  are  among 
the  foremost  shouters  in  the  crowd.  Come,"  said  I, 
"you  must  come  with  me  to  the  altar;  I  want  to  pray 
for  you  there,  that  you  may  get  religion,  and  be  hap- 
py too.  Come,  sir,  I  want  to  see  you  converted,  and 
shouting-happy."  I  took  him  by  the  arm,  to  lead  him 
to  the  altar,  but  he  drew  back.  I  gathered  him 
again,  and  pulled  him  along ;  but  the  moment  he  saw 
nis  wife  and  daughter  shouting,  and  making  toward 
him,  he  tore  loose  from  my  grasp,  and  actually  ran. 
Poor  man,  he  was  so  confused  by  fishing  in  the  mud- 
dy waters  of  Campbeflism,  that  he  lost  his  mental 
balance.  He  would  not  yield  to  the  Spirit  of  God, 
and  submit  to  be  a  humble,  shouting,  happy  Chris- 
tian. Sometimes  he  would  talk  rational;  sometimes 
quote,  and  apply  the  Scriptures  right;  then,  again,  he 
became  skeptical.  But  the  great  difficulty  was,  the 
pride  of  his  professed  ministerial  standing  would  not 
let  him  yield,  and  renounce  his  errors.  Thus  he 
worried'  on  for  a  considerable  time,  and  was  carried 
into  the  whirlpool  of  doubt  and  unbelief.  His 
friends  talked  to  him,  but  talked  in  vain.  He 
became  more  and  more  flighty  in  his  mind,  till  at 
length,  in  a  paroxysm  of  insanity,  he  shot  himself. 
This  event  fell  like  a  thunderbolt  on  his  family  and 
the  surrounding  community;  and  proves  that  it  is  a 
hard  thing  to  fight  against  God. 


358  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

MISSIONARIES   FROM    THE   EAST. 

ABOUT  this  time  there  were  a  great  many  >oung 
missionaries  sent  out  to  this  country  to  civilize  and 
Christianize  the  poor  heathen  of  the  west.  They 
would  come  with  a  tolerable  education,  and  a  smat- 
tering knowledge  of  the  old  Calvinistic  system  of 
theology.  They  were  generally  tolerably  well  fur- 
ished  with  old  manuscript  sermons,  that  had  been 
preached,  or  written,  perhaps  a  hundred  years  before. 
Some  of  these  sermons  they  had  memorized,  but  in 
general  they  read  them  to  the  people.  This  way  of 
reading  sermons  was  out  of  fashion  altogether  in  this 
western  world,  and  of  course  they  produced  no  good 
effect  among  the  people.  The  great  mass  of  our 
western  people  wanted  a  preacher  that  could  mount 
a  stump,  a  block,  or  old  log,  or  stand  in  the  bed  of 
a  wagon,  and  without  note  or  manuscript,  quote,  ex- 
pound, and  apply  the  word  of  God  to  the  hearts  and 
consciences  of  the  people.  The  result  of  the  efforts 
of  these  eastern  missionaries  was  not  very  flattering; 
and  although  the  Methodist  preachers  were  in  reality 
the  pioneer  heralds  of  the  cross  throughout  the  entire 
west,  and  although  they  had  raised  up  numerous 
societies  and  churches  every  five  miles,  and  notwith- 
standing we  had  hundreds  of  traveling  and  local 
preachers,  accredited  and  useful  ministers  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  yet  these  newly-fledged  missionaries 
would  write  back  to  the  old  states  hardly  any  thing 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  359 

else  but  mailings  and  lamentations  over  the  morai 
wastes  and  destitute  condition  of  the  west. 

These  letters  would  be  read  in  their  large  congre- 
gations, stating  that  they  had  traveled  hundreds  of 
miles,  and  found  no  evangelical  minister,  and  the 
poor  perishing  people  were  in  a  fair  way  to  be  lost 
for  the  want  of  the  bread  of  life;  and  the  ignorant 
or  uninformed  thousands  that  heard  these  letters 
read  would  melt  into  tears,  and  their  sympathies  be 
greatly  moved,  when  they  considered  our  lost  and 
heathenish  state,  and  would  liberally  contribute  their 
money  to  send  us  more  missionaries,  or  to  support 
those  that  were  already  here.  Thus  some  of  these 
missionaries,  after  occupying  our  pulpits,  and  preach- 
ing in  large  and  respectable  Methodist  congregations, 
would  write  back  and  give  those  doleful  tidings. 
Presently  their  letters  would  be  printed,  and  come 
back  among  us  as  published  facts  in  some  of  their 
periodicals. 

Now,  what  confidence  could  the  people  have  in 
such  missionaries,  who  would  state  things  as  facts 
that  had  not  even  the  semblance  of  truth  in  them  ? 
Thus  I  have  known  many  of  them  destroy  their  own 
usefulness,  and  cut  off  all  access  to  the  people;  and, 
indeed,  they  have  destroyed  all  confidence  in  them 
as  ministers  of  truth  and  righteousness,  and  caused 
the  way  of  truth  to  be  evil  spoken  of.  On  a  certain 
occasion,  when  these  reports  came  back  known  to 
contain  false  statements,  the  citizens  of  Quincy  called 
a  meeting,  mostly  out  of  the  Church,  and  after  dis- 
cussing the  subject,  pledged  themselves  to  give  me  a 
thousand  dollars  per  annum,  and  bear  all  my  travel- 
ing expenses,  if  I  would  go  as  a  missionary  to  the 
New  England  states,  and  enlighten  them  on  this  and 
other  subjects,  of  which  they  considered  them  pro- 


860  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

foundly  ignorant.  But,  owing  to  circumstances  be- 
yond my  control,  I  was  obliged  to  decline  the  accept- 
ance of  their  generous  offer. 

If  it  had  been  consistently  in  my  power,  IIOAV  glad- 
ly and  willingly  would  I  have  undertaken  this  labor 
of  love,  and  gloried  in  enlightening  them  down  east, 
that  they  might  keep  their  home-manufactured  clergy 
at  home,  or  give  them  some  honorable  employ  better 
suited  to  their  genius,  than  that  of  reading  old  musty 
and  worm-eaten  sermons !  If  this  matter  is  rightly 
looked  into,  it  will  astonish  every  well-informed 
man  to  see  the  self-importance  and  self-complacence 
of  these  little  home-manufactured  fellows.  Jf  they 
would  tarry  at  Jericho  till  their  beards  were 
grown  out,  it  certainly  would  be  more  creditable  to 
themselves,  and  to  all  others  concerned,  and  especial- 
ly to  the  cause  of  God. 

It  will  be  perceived  that  in  the  fall  of  1834  the 
Galena  and  Chicago  districts  were  formed,  which 
gave  us  six  presiding-elder  districts  in  our  conference. 
Our  conference  met  in  Springfield,  October  1,  1835. 
At  this  conference  I  was  returned  to  the  Quincy 
district,  which  now  consisted  of  the  following  ap- 
pointments, namely:  Pittsfield,  Quincy  circuit,  Quin- 
cy mission,  Rushville  station,  Rushville  circuit,  Can- 
tun,  Fort  Edwards  mission,  Henderson  River  mission, 
and  Knoxville  mission — 8.  At  this  conference  in 
Springfield,  we  again  elected  our  delegates  to  tho 
General  conference,  which  was  held  in  Cincinnati, 
May  1,  1836.  To  this  General  conference  I  wa3 
elected;  and  it  was  the  fifth  General  conference  ia 
which  I  was  entitled  to  a  scat  by  the  suffrages  of  my 
brethren  in  the  ministry. 

At  the  Genera]  conference  of  1832,  that  body  had 
grouted  the  privilege  to  the  west  to  publish  a  relig 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  361 

ious  paper  at  Cincinnati,  on  the  hard  condition  that  we 
obtained  five  thousand  subscribers.  However,  by 
strong  effort  we  obtained  that  number,  and  Thomas 
A.  Morris  was  its  first  editor.  At  the  General  confer- 
ence of  1836  he,  as  well  as  brother  Beverly  Waugh, 
and  Doctor  Fisk,  were  elected  Bishops  of  the  Method- 
ist Episcopal  Church,  and  Doctor  C.  Elliott,  the  present 
incumbent,  was  elected  editor  of  the  Western  Chris- 
tian Advocate,  John  F.  Wright  our  Western  Book 
Agent,  and  Leroy  Swormstedt  Assistant  Book  Agent. 
It  was  at  this  General  conference  of  1836  that  the 
ground  was  taken  by  a  majority  of  the  delegates  from 
the  slaveholding  states,  that  slavery  was  right,  and  a 
blessing,  instead  of  a  curse,  to  the  slaves  themselves. 
We  had  from  the  north  0.  Scott  and  his  coadjutors, 
who  were  ultra  abolitionists ;  and  we  had  some  warm 
debates  on  the  subject.  The  southern  delegates  met 
in  private  caucus  to  devise  a  plan  of  separation  from 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  unless  we  would  so 
modify  the  Discipline  as  to  tolerate  slavery,  or  make 
it  no  bar  to  membership  or  office  in  the  Church.  This 
movement  was  headed  by  the  Rev.  William  A.  Smith, 
of  Virginia,  and  others  of  the  same  cloth  and  kidney. 
I  was  invited  by  John  Early,  of  Virginia,  now  Bishop 
of  the  Southern  Church,  to  attend  one  of  these  cau- 
cuses. I  went.  Some  of  them  took  strong  ground, 
and  urged  a  division,  or  a  separation  from  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church.  Others  of  them  said  they 
would  never  consent  to  a  division ;  that  they  would 
rather  suffer  martyrdom  than  to  divide  the  Church. 
Finally,  I  think  they  did  not  harmonize  on  any  plan 
of  division  at  that  time;  but  William  A.  Smith  said 
to  me  he  never  would  be  satisfied  unless  we  would 
agree  to  expunge  every  thing  from  the  Discipline  of 
the  Methodist  Church  on  the  subject  of  slavery ;  and 


362  AUTUBIOGRAPH  Y    OF 

true  to  the  dark  principles  of  his  creed,  he  never 
rested  till  he  divided  the  Methodist  Church ;  and 
at  the  late  General  conference  of  the  Church  South 
they  swept,  as  with  the  besom  of  destruction,  every 
rule  from  their  Discipline  on  the  subject  of  slavery, 
and  only  lacked  a  few  votes  of  erasing  from  the  Gen- 
eral Rules  that  part  which  forbids  "  the  buying  and 
selling  of  men,  women,  or  children,  with  an  intention 
to  enslave  them." 

This  rule  the  advocates  of  slavery  at  the  south 
have  always  interpreted  to  apply  to  the  slave-trade, 
and  that  trade  alone.  Taking  them  to  be  sincere  in 
this  interpretation  of  this  General  Rule,  what  is  the 
conclusion  that  we  must  draw  from  their  late  move  in 
their  General  conference?  It  is  plainly  that  they 
wish  every  disciplinary  barrier  moved  out  of  the 
way,  and  the  slave-trade,  with  all  its  damning,  mur- 
dering influences,  revived  again,  notwithstanding  it 
is  denounced  by  all  Christian  philanthropists,  and 
made  piracy  by  the  laws  of  our  happy  country ;  n  3t- 
withstanding  all  their  pretensions  to  patriotism,  their 
love  of  country,  and  all  their  law-loving  and  law- 
abiding  professions,  as  being  "  obedient  to  the  powers 
that  be,"  they  would  open  the  way  to  revive  this 
abominable  traffic  in  human  souls  and  bodies;  and 
while  this  slave-trade  stands  reprobated  by  every 
Christian  nation  that  deserves  the  name,  and  has  the 
broad  seal  of  reprobation  set  on  it  by  God  himself, 
they  wish  to  see  its  dark  wheels  set  in  motion  again, 
without  let  or  hinderance. 

And  why  should  they  not  desire  this,  if  they  are 
sincere  in  their  expressed  opinions  ?  They  tell  us  that 
slavery  "is  a  political,  domestic,  and  religious  bless- 
ing;" if  so,  why  not  enter  into  the  slave-trade,  whole- 
sale and  retail?  go  with  armed  ships,  kidnap  human 


PETER    CART  W  RIGHT.  363 

beings  by  the  thousand,  bring  them  to  America,  sell 
them  into  perpetual  bondage?  Never  mind  the  part- 
ing of  husband  and  wife,  parents  and  children;  the 
encouraging  the  savage  ferocity  of  those  poor  degraded 
heathen.  Tell  them  the  Christian  religion  sanctions 
their  bloody  wars  among  themselves;  and  that  it  is 
to  make  Christians  of  them  that  you  buy  and  trans- 
port them  to  "  the  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of 
the  brave."  Have  no  scruples  of  conscience  about 
the  thousands  that  are  murdered  in  these  wars,  insti- 
gated by  Christians,  or  that  die  on  their  passage  from 
the  land  of  barbarism  to  this  Christian  land  of  uni- 
versal freedom:  "the  great  end  will  sanctify  the 
means."  Crowd  the  slave  ships,  or  "floating  hells;" 
all,  all  is  to  better  their  condition.  It  is  a  god-like 
deed  of  mercy,  and  why  should  not  Methodist  preach- 
ers, bishops  and  all,  have  a  large  share  in  this  benev- 
olent and  Christian  affair?  Who  can  forbid?  And 
let  the  officers  of  these  slave  vessels  never  forget  to 
tell  these  savage  tribes  that  there  is  at  least  one  very 
popular  Church  in  America  that  sanctions  all  these 
operations,  and  will  justify  them;  namely,  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  South. 

Prior  to  the  General  conference  of  1836,  the  run- 
mad  spirit  of  rabid  abolitionism  had  broken  out  in 
some  of  the  eastern  and  northern  conferences;  and 
Methodist  preachers  were  found  by  the  dozen  to  quit 
their  appropriate  fields  of  labor,  and  their  holy  calling 
of  saving  souls,  and  turn  out  and  become  hired  lectur- 
ers against  slavery.  So  zealous  were  they,  that  they 
forgot  their  pastoral  duties ;  and  they  went  so  far  as 
violently  to  oppose  colonization  as  a  slaveholding 
trick.  Dr.  Fisk  was  a  good  man  and  true,  and 
was  as  much  opposed  to  slavery  as  any  of  them, 
yet-  he  was  for  occupying  the  real  Methodist  preachei 


364  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

ground,  and  bearing  his  plain,  honest  testimony  against 
the  moral  evil  of  slavery,  and  not  meddling  with  it 
politically,  only  in  a  constitutional  way.  He,  seeing 
that  this  rabid  abolitionism  would  rivet  the  chains  of 
slavery  the  tighter,  rouse  the  jealousies  of  the  slave 
holders,  and  disrupt  the  Methodist  Church,  flunj 
himself  into  the  breach,  and  met  those  lecturers  iii 
open  combat ;  vanquished  them  in  argument,  and 
rjmpelled  them  to  retreat  or  bolt,  and  set  up  for 
themselves.  0.  Scott  and  his  coadjutors  formed 
themselves  into  a  separate  party  organization,  calling 
themselves  the  "True  Weslcyans;"  but  long  since 
they  have  found,  to  their  sorrow,  that  they  misnamed 
the  brat,  for  the  secession  that  they  produced  was  a 
very  feeble,  little,  illegitimate  child.  But  they  nursed 
it  till  it  took  the  rickets ;  and  the  last  I  heard  of  it, 
it  was  fast  wasting  away,  and  "  the  last  state  of  it  is 
worse  than  the  first." 

Under  these  circumstances,  Dr.  Fisk  stood  in  the 
general  confidence  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
north  and  south,  east  and  west;  and  although  he  was 
not  present  at  the  General  conference  at  Cincinnati, 
yet  when  we  were  about  to  elect  three  new  bishops, 
Dr.  Winans,  of  Mississippi,  a  thorough  southern  man, 
and  a  great  defender  of  slavery,  rose,  and  in  open 
conference  nominated  Dr.  Fisk  for  episcopal  honors; 
and  if  I  am  not  greatly  mistaken,  nearly  the  entire 
southern  delegation  voted  for  him,  and  he  was  elected 
by  a  great  majority  of  the  members  of  the  General 
conference.  But  Dr.  Fisk,  thinking  that  the  episco- 
pate was  strong  enough  without  him,  declined  being 
ordained,  and  lived  and  died  without  episcopal  conse- 
cration. It  is  a  pity  that  more  Methodist  preachers  do 
not  follow  the  illustrious  course  pursued  by  Dr.  Fisk. 
Then  we  should  benefit  the  slaves  more  than  we  do. 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  365 

At  the  General  conference  of  1836  there  were  six 
new  conferences  formed;  two  in  the  west,  namely, 
Arkansas  and  Michigan,  and  four  in  the  east,  namely, 
Erie,  North  Carolina,  Oneida,  and  New  Jersey.  The 
number  of  members  in  the  west  was  about  262,690 ; 
our  traveling  preachers  in  the  west  had  increased  to 
1,069.  The  number  of  members  in  the  eastern  con- 
ferences was  about  396,000 ;  their  traveling  preachers 
numbered  about  3,560.  Total  membership,  658,690; 
total  traveling  preachers,  4,629.  Our  increase  in  the 
west,  in  four  years,  was  something  like  45,000 ;  in 
traveling  preachers  we  had  increased  about  300. 
The  increase  in  the  eastern  conferences,  according  to 
the  Minutes,  was  14,000;  their  increase  in  traveling 
preachers  was  something  like  200.  Total  increase 
through  the  connection,  in  four  years,  59,000. 

Thus,  I  think,  without  any  disposition  to  boast  in 
the  least  degree,  I  may  say,  in  the  fear  of  God,  that, 
under  the  divine  guidance  of  the  great  Redeemer, 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  in  point  of  pros- 
perity and  increase  of  number  in  her  ministry  and 
membership,  stands  without  an  equal  in  the  Protest- 
ant' world  since  the  days  of  the  apostles.  0,  that  she 
may  keep  humble,  and  never  move  her  old  land 
marks ! 

Our  venerable  Bishop  M'Kendree,  of  whom  I  have 
spoken  freely  in  another  part  of  this  narrative,  who 
labored  long  and  suffered  much  as  a  traveling 
preacher,  had  closed  his  mortal  probation  on  March 
the  5th,  1835.  At  the  General  conference  at  Cincin- 
nati, in  May,  1836,  Bishop  Soule  preached  the  funeral 
sermon  of  this  eminent  minister  and  unrivaled  Bishop 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  That  sermon 
has  been  published  and  thrown  broad-cast  over  the 
,  and  I  therefore  have  no  need  to  say  any  thing 


866  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    Of 

in  relation  to  its  merits.  But  I  wish  to  say  a  few 
brief  things  of  Bishop  M'Kendree  himself. 

If  my  information  be  correct,  he  was  born  in  King 
William  county,  Virginia,  6th  of  July,  1757.  In  an 
extensive  and  glorious  revival  of  religion,  under  the 
ministerial  labors  of  John  Easter,  a  real  son  of  thun- 
der and  of  consolation  too,  M'Kendree  embraced  re- 
ligion and  joined  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
In  a  few  months  he  was  licensed  to  preach,  and  was 
appointed  to  a  circuit.  He  was  very  diffident  and 
distrustful  of  Iris  own  abilities  as  a  preacher.  The 
members  of  the  Church  did  not  receive  him  kindly. 
This  he  told  me  himself,  and  under  the  discourage- 
ment he  met  with  from  his  brethren,  he  left  his  cir- 
cuit, conceiving  that  he  was  mistaken  about  his  call 
to  the  ministry,  but  he  fell  into  good  hands  among 
the  preachers,  and  they  advised,  cheered,  and  com- 
forted him,  and  soon  he  entered  the  work  again. 

These  were  the  times  of  the  schism  created  in  the 
Church  by  James  O'Kelly,  who  had  a  great  influence 
over  M'Kendree,  and  for  a  little  while  he  inclined 
to  leave  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  go  with 
this  popular  schismatic.  But  he  was  not  hasty,  and 
narrowly  watched  the  spirit  and  course  of  O'Kelly, 
till  he  became  thoroughly  satisfied  that  O'Kelly 
was  of  a  wrong  and  wicked  spirit,  and  that  the  great 
moving  cause  of  O'Kelly 's  disaffection  was  disap- 
pointed ambition.  He  then  gave  up  O'Kelly,  fully 
satisfied  that  Bishop  Asbury  and  his  preachers  were 
right,  and  from  this  to  the  day  of  his  death  he  never 
wavered  or  doubted  on  the  grand  landmarks  of 
Episcopal  Methodism. 

Bishop  M'Kendree  was  the  gentleman  as  well  as 
Christian  minister.  He  was  a  profound  theologian, 
and  understood  thoroughly  the  organic  laws  of  ecclesi- 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  3*>7 

astic  government;  he  was  a  dignified,  shrewd  parlia- 
mentary presiding  officer,  a  profound  judge  of  human 
nature,  and  one  of  the  strongest  debaters  and  log- 
ical reasoners  that  ever  graced  an  American  pulpit. 
At  an  early  period  of  his  ministry  he  was  transferred 
to  the  Western  conference,  and,  considering  the 
hardships,  privations,  and  sufferings  of  frontier  life, 
and  the  delicacy  of  his  constitution,  he  bore  it  all 
with  great  cheerfulness  and  resignation,  and  truly  he 
was,  in  his  feelings  and  habits,  a  western  man  and  a 
western  bishop.  When  his  end  drew  near,  death 
found  him  duly  prepared  for  his  change,  and  on  his 
dying  pillow  and  amid  surrounding  friends,  he  was 
enabled  to  proclaim,  "All  is  well."  He  died  in 
Sumner  county,  Tennessee  state,  at  his  brother's, 
Dr.  M'Kendree,  and  was  buried  in  his  brother's  fami- 
ly burying-ground,  where  all  that  is  mortal  of  Bishop 
M'Kendree  will  repose  till  the  general  resurrection. 

Dr.  Jennings,  of  Baltimore,  was  employed  to  write 
his  life  for  publication,  and  after  making  some  prog- 
ress in  the  work,  declined  its  prosecution  any  further. 
Then  the  General  conference  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  in  1840,  requested  Bishop  Soule  to 
prepare  a  history  of  his  life  and  labors  for  publica- 
tion, but  by  some  strange  neglect  Bishop  Soule  de- 
layed doing  so  till  the  unhappy  division  of  the  Church, 
and  then  Bishop  Soule  seceded  from  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  and  joined  the  Church  South,  and 
I  suppose  if  ever  the  life  of  Bishop  M'Kendree  is  pub- 
lished at  all,  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  will  be 
leprived  of  the  benefit  of  it.  It  is  to  be  regretted 
that  this  work  has  been  so  long  delayed,  and  we  think 
unnecessarily  so. 


3ti8  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    Of 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

THE     NEW-SCHOOL    PREACHER. 

IN  the  fall  of  1836  our  conference  was  held  in 
Rushville,  Illinois  state.  Bishop  R.  R.  Roberts  at- 
tended and  presided.  My  field  of  labor  had  for  four 
years  been  the  Quincy  district.  My  constitutional 
time  was  out,  and  I  was  again  appointed  to  the  San- 
gamon  district,  which  was  composed  of  the  following 
appointments :  Jacksonville  station,  Jacksonville  cir- 
cuit, Winchester,  Springfield  station,  Sangamon,  Flat 
Branch,  Athens,  Pecan  mission,  Beardstown  mission, 
nine  in  all.  It  will  be  perceived  that  Beardstown 
was  this  year  first  formed  into  a  distinct  station,  and 
Dr.  P.  Akers  appointed  missionary.  It  will  also  be 
noticed  that  the  Illinois  conference,  at  this  date,  not 
only  reached  to  the  northern  limits  of  the  state,  but 
had  spread  with  the  constantly  increasing  population 
into  Wisconsin  and  Iowa  territories,  and  covered,  in  its 
missionary  stations,  almost  the  entire  unbroken  Indian 
country,  now  called  the  Minnesota  territory,  and  we 
had  thirteen  presiding-elder  districts,  and  at  our  an- 
nual conference,  held  in  Jacksonville,  Morgan  county 
September  27,  1837,  we  had  over  one  hundred  and 
thirty  traveling  preachers,  and  over  twenty-one  thou- 
sand members.  Any  one  of  our  traveling  preachers 
was  liable  to  be  sent  from  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  and 
W abash  rivers  nearly  to  the  head  waters  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, a  thousand  or  twelve  hundred  miles,  and  all 
the  northern  part  of  our  conference  was  frontier  work 


PITER   CARTWRIGHT.  369 

or  Indian  wilds.  Hard  were  our  labors,  but  glorious 
was  our  success. 

This  year,  1837,  J.  T.  Mitchell  was  appointed  to 
the  Jacksonville  station,  and  we  had  a  blessed  revi- 
val of  religion  in  the  station,  and  a  number  were 
added  to  the  Church.  At  one  of  our  quarterly  meet- 
ings there  was  a  minister  who  was  what  was  called  a 
Xew-School  minister,  and  he  was  willing  to  work  anj 
where.  When  the  mourners  presented  themselves  at 
the  altar  of  prayer,  he  would  talk  to  them,  and  exhort 
them  to  "  change  their  purpose,"  and  assured  them 
that  all  who  changed  their  purpose  were  undoubted 
Christians.  I  plainly  saw  he  was  doing  mischief,  and 
I  went  immediately  after  him,  and  told  them  not  to 
depend  on  a  change  of  purpose  in  order  to  become  a 
Christian,  hut  to  believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
with  a  heart  unto  righteousness,  and  they  should  be 
saved.  Thus  I  had  to  counteract  the  false  sentiments 
inculcated  by  this  New-School  minister.  It  is  very 
strange  to  me  to  think  these  educated  and  home- 
manufactured  preachers  do  not  understand  the  plain, 
Bible  doctrine  of  the  new  birth  better.  They  say 
man  is  a  free  agent  in  so  far  as  to  change  his  purpose, 
and  in  changing  his  purpose  he  is  constituted  a  new 
creature.  Thus  he  makes  himself  a  Christian  by  his 
own  act  without  the  Spirit  of  God. 

This  year  we  had  a  gracious  work  of  religion  in  the 
town  of  Winchester,  in  the  Winchester  circuit.  We 
had  no  meeting-house  or  church  built  there  at  this 
time  to  worship  in,  and  when  our  quarterly  meeting 
came  on  the  friends  had  procured  an  unfinished  frame 
building,  large  and  roomy,  to  bold  the  quarterly 
meeting  in.  There  was  a  very  large  concourse  of 
people  in  attendance.  The  house  was  crowded  to 
overflowing;  our  Mate  were  temporary;  no  altar,  no 
14 


370  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

pulpit,  but  our  meeting  progressed  with  great  interest. 
The  members  of  the  Church  were  greatly  revived, 
many  backsliders  were  reclaimed,  and  scores  of  weep- 
ing and  praying  sinners  crowded  our  temporary  altar 
that  we  had  erected. 

There  happened  to  be  at  our  quarterly  meeting  a 
fresh,  green,  live  Yankee  from  down  east.  He  had 
regularly  graduated,  and  had  his  diploma,  and  was 
regularly  called,  by  the  Home  Missionary  Society,  to 
visit  the  far-off  west — a  perfect  moral  waste,  in  his 
view  of  the  subject;  and  having  been  taught  to  be- 
lieve that  we  were  almost  cannibals,  and  that  Method- 
ist preachers  were  nothing  but  a  poor,  illiterate  set  of 
ignoramuses,  he  longed  for  an  opportunity  to  display 
his  superior  tact  and  talent,  and  throw  us  poor 
upstarts  of  preachers  in  the  west,  especially  Method- 
ist preachers,  into  the  shades  of  everlasting  darkness. 
He,  of  course,  was  very  forward  and  officious.  He 
would,  if  I  had  permitted  it,  have  taken  the  lead  of 
our  meeting.  At  length  I  thought  I  would  give  him 
a  chance  to  ease  himself  of  his  mighty  burden,  so  I 
put  him  up  one  night  to  read  his  sermon.  The  frame 
building  we  were  worshiping  in  was  not  plastered, 
and  the  wind  blew  hard;  our  candles  flared  and  gave 
a  bad  light,  and  our  ministerial  hero  made  a  very 
awkward  out  in  reading  his  sermon.  The  congrega- 
tion paid  a  heavy  penance  and  became  restive;  he 
balked,  and  hemmed,  and  coughed  at  a  disgusting 
rate.  At  the  end  of  about  thirty  minutes  the  great 
blessing  camo:  he  closed,  to  the  great  satisfaction  of 
all  the  congregation. 

I  rose  and  gave  an  exhortation,  and  had  a  bench 
prepared,  to  which  J  invited  the  mourners.  They 
came  in  crowds;  and  there  was  a  solemn  po^ver  rested 
on  the  congregation.  My  little  hot-house  reader 


PETER    CARTWRIQHT.  371 

seemed  to  recover  from  his  paroxysm  of  a  total  fail- 
ure, as  though  he  had  done  all  right,  and,  uninvited, 
he  turned  in  to  talk  to  the  mourners.  He  would  ask 
them  if  they  did  not  love  Christ ;  then  he  would  try 
to  show  them  that  Christ  was  lovely;  then  he  would 
tell  them  it  was  a  very  easy  thing  to  become  a  Chris- 
tian ;  that  they  had  only  to  resolve  to  be  a  Christian, 
and  instantly  he  or  she  was  a  Christian.  I  listened 
a  moment,  and  saw  this  heterodoxy  would  not  do ;  that 
it  produced  jargon  and  confusion.  I  stepped  up  to 
him  and  said : 

"  Brother,  you  do  n't  know  how  to  talk  to  mourners. 
I  -want  you  to  go  out  into  the  congregation,  and  ex- 
hort sinners." 

He  did  not  appear  the  least  disconcerted,  but  at  my 
bidding  he  left  the  altar,  and  out  he  went  into  the 
crowd,  and  turned  in  to  talking  to  sinners.  There 
was  a  very  large  man,  who  stood  a  few  steps  from  the 
mourners,  who  weighed  about  two  hundred  and  thirty 
pounds ;  he  had  been  a  professor,  but  was  backslid- 
den. The  power  of  God  arrested  him,  and  he  cried 
out  aloud  for  mercy,  standing  on  his  feet.  My  little 
preacher  turned  round,  and  pressed  back  through  the 
crowd ;  and  coming  up  to  this  large  man,  reached  up, 
and  tapped  him  on  the  shoulder,  saying, 

"Be  composed;  be  composed." 

Seeing,  and  indistinctly  hearing  this,  I  made  my 
way  to  him,  and  cried  out  at  the  top  of  my  voice, 

"Pray  on,  brother;  pray  on,  brother;  there's  no 
composure  in  hell  or  damnation." 

And  just  as  I  crowded  my  way  to  this  convicted 
man,  who  was  still  crying  aloud  for  mercy,  the  little 
preacher  tapped  him  again  on  the  shoulder,  saying, 

"Be  composed;  be  composed,  brother." 

I  again  responded: 


372  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

"Pray  on,  brother;  pray  on,  brother;  there  is  no 
composure  in  hell." 

I  said  to  the  throng  that  crowded  the  aisle  that  led 
to  the  altar, 

"  Do,  friends,  stand  back,  till  I  get  this  man  to  the 
mourners'  bench." 

But  they  were  so  completely  jammed  together  that 
it  seemed  almost  impossible  for  me  to  get  through 
with  my  mourner.  I  let  go  his  arm,  and  stepped  for- 
ward to  open  the  way  to  the  altar,  and  just  as  I 
had  opened  the  aisle,  and  turned  to  go  back,  and 
lead  him  to  the  mourners'  bench,  the  Lord  spoke 
peace  to  his  soul,  standing  on  hi«  feet;  and  he  cried, 
"Glory  to  God,"  and  in  the  ecstasy  of  his  joy,  he 
reached  forward  to  take  me  in  his  arms;  but,  fortu- 
nately for  me,  two  men  were  crowded  into  the  aisle 
between  him  and  myself,  and  he  could  not  reach  me. 
Missing  his  aim  in  catching  me,  he  wheeled  round 
and  caught  my  little  preacher  in  his  arms,  and  lifted 
him  up  from  the  floor;  and  being  A  large,  strong  man, 
having  great  physical  power,  he  jumped  from  bench 
to  bench,  knocking  the  people  against  one  another  on 
the  right  and  left,  front  and  rear,  holding  up  in  his 
arms  the  little  preacher.  The  little  fellow  stretched 
out  both  arms  and  both  feet,  expecting  every  mo- 
ment to  be  his  last,  when  he  would  have  his  neck 
broken.  0 !  how  I  desired  to  be  near  this"  preacher 
at  that  moment,  and  tap  him  on  the  shoulder,  and 
say,  "Be  composed;  be  composed,  brother!"  But  as 
solemn  as  the  times  were,  I,  with  many  others,  could 
not  command  my  risibilities,  and  for  the  moment,  it 
had  like  to  have  checked  the  rapid  flow  of  good  feel- 
ing with  those  that  beheld  the  scene ;  but  you  may 
depend  on  it,  as  soon  as  the  little  hot-bed  parson 
could  make  his  escape,  he  was  missing. 


PETER    CARTWRIGIIT.  373 

Our  annual  conference  was  held  in  Alton  this  fall, 
September  12,  1838.  Owing  to  the  low  stage  of 
water  in  the  Ohio  river,  Bishop  Soule  was  detained 
on  the  way,  and  did  not  reach  Alton  till  the  fourth 
day  of  the  conference.  He  not  being  present  when 
we  organized,  I  was  elected  president  of  the  confer- 
ence till  the  Bishop  arrived. 

In  the  fall  of  1839  our  Illinois  conference  was 
held  in  Springfield,  Sangamon  county ;  here  we 
elected  our  delegates  to  the  eighth  delegated  General 
conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  1 
was  one  of  the  delegates,  and  this  was  the  seventh 
General  conference  to  which  I  was  elected.  Our 
General  conference  sat  in  Baltimore,  May  1, 1840. 
At  this  conference  the  unhappy  agitation  of  slavery 
was  revived.  The  two  ultra  parties  had  their  repre- 
sentatives there.  The  slavery  party  from  the  south 
contended  that  slavery  was  no  disqualification  for  the 
episcopal  office.  The  abolitionists  from  the  north 
contended  that  slavery  was  a  sin  under  all  circum 
stances.  This  party  was  led  on  by  0.  Scott ;  and 
they  urged  that  it  should  not  only  be  a  test  of  office, 
but  of  membership,  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  in  the  slaveholding  states,  as  well  as  the  free 
states.  Our  Committee  on  Episcopacy  had  recom- 
mended the  election  of  two  more  bishops ;  believing 
that  if  we  went  into  an  election  of  these  officers  of 
the  Church  a  conflict  on  the  subject  would  ensue, 
and  believing  that  the  then  present  incumbents  of 
that  office  could  discharge  all  the  labors  necessary 
for  the  healthy  action  of  the  Church,  I  flung  myself 
against  the  election  of  any  more  bishops  at  that  con- 
ference. In  this  nearly  all  the  conservative  mem- 
bers of  the  General  conference  joined  ine,  and  thereby 
defeated  the  designs  of  both  the  ultra  parties,  and 


874  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

every  aspiring  expectant  for  that  office,  for  the  time 
being,  and,  in  all  probability,  a  rupture  in  the  Church. 
At  this  General  conference  the  following  additional 
annual  conferences  were  formed :  Rock  River,  North 
Ohio,  Memphis,  and  Texas,  all  in  the  west  and 
eouth-west.  Rock  River  conference  was  stricken  off 
from  the  Illinois  conference,  and  consisted  of  the 
following  presiding-elder  districts  :  Chicago,  Ottawa, 
Mount  Morris,  Burlington,  Iowa,  Indian  Mission, 
Plattville,  and  Milwaukie ;  eight  in  number. 

The  Illinois  conference  consisted  of  the  following 
presiding-elder  districts,  namely :  Danville,  Mount 
Vernon,  Vandalia,  Lebanon,  Jacksonville,  Spring- 
field, Quincy,  Knoxville,  and  Bloomington;  nine  in 
number.  We  had  in  Rock  River  conference  6,585 
members,  and  75  traveling  preachers ;  in  Illinois 
conference  we  had  24,687  members,  and  103  travel- 
ing preachers.  North  Ohio  conference  was  stricken 
off  from  the  Ohio  conference ;  the  Memphis  conference 
was  stricken  off  from  the  Tennessee  conference ;  the 
Texas  conference  was  taken  from  Mississippi  con- 
ference, and  had  three  presiding-elder  districts, 
namely,  San  Augustine,  Galveston,  Rutersville;  hav- 
ing 18  traveling  preachers,  and  1,853  members. 
Thus  you  see  in  the  two  original  divisions  of  the 
work,  namely,  east  and  west,  the  east  had  sixteen 
annual  conferences ;  and  the  west,  with  her  enlarge- 
ments, had  sixteen  annual  conferences;  making,  in 
all,  thirty-two,  besides  the  Liberia  Mission  confer- 
ence and  the  Canadas,  which  were  under  foreign  gov- 
ernments. 

The  eastern  division  of  the  work  had,  in  members, 
466,561 ;  in  traveling  preachers,  3,125  :  the  member- 
ship in  the  west  was,  375,433 ;  traveling  preachers 
we  had,  1,447.  Total  in  members,  841,994;  in  era/- 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  375 

eling  preachers,  4.572.  Increase  in  four  years  in  the 
east  wa>,  in  members,  60,500;  in  the  western  division 
was  over  11,200. 

Here  I  wish  to  remark  that  the  abolition  party  up 
to  this  time  had  universally,  as  far  as  I  knew,  opposed 
most  strenuously  the  Colonization  Society;  and  it 
really  appeared  to  me  that  if  they  could  not  effect  an 
immediate  emancipation  and  a  restoration  of  the  peo- 
ple of  color  to  equal  rights  and  privileges  with  the 
whites,  they  did  not  care  what  became  of  them.  I  will 
state  a  case.  In  Natchez,  Mississippi,  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  had  erected  a  good,  substantial 
church  at  a  considerable  cost.  The  galleries  of  the 
church  were  appropriated  for  the  use  and  benefit  of 
the  colored  people.  Some  time  in  1839  or  1840  a 
fearful  tornado  had  swept  over  the  town  of  Natchez, 
and  done  a  great  deal  of  damage ;  and  among  the 
rest,  it  had  well-nigh  overturned  the  Methodist 
church,  so  that  it  was  not  safe  to  worship  in  it.  The 
society  was  weak,  and  comparatively  poor.  In  this 
situation  they  were  deprived  of  any  suitable  place  to 
worship  in,  either  the  whites  or  blacks. 

The  delegates  from  the  Mississippi  conference  came 
on  to  the  General  conference,  and  asked  aid  of  their 
eastern  brethren,  and  of  the  members  of  the  General 
conference,  to  rebuild  or  refit  their  church ;  and  a 
collection  was  taken  up  in  the  conference  for  this 
purpose ;  and  if  my  memory  serves  me,  the  members 
of  the  General  conference  gave  them  over  one  thou- 
sand dollars ;  but  our  abolition  brethren  would  not 
give  any  thing,  alleging  that  the  Church  or  the  Gospel 
could  do  no  good  to  either  the  slaves  or  slaveholders, 
so  long  as  slavery  existed  among  them.  I  went  to 
tiiose  members  of  the  General  conference  who  refused, 
and  tried  to  reason  the  case  with  them ,  but  all  in 


376  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

vain.  I  urged  that  these  poor  slaves  could  not  help 
themselves ;  they  were  in  bondage,  not  of  choice,  but 
from  circumstances  beyond  their  control ;  and  we 
ought  not  to  withhold  the  Gospel  from  them,  for  it 
was  all  the  comfort  these  poor  slaves  could  have  in 
this  life,  or  to  fit  them  for  happiness  in  the  life  to 
come.  But  no;  it  was  upholding  and  countenancing 
t'avery,  and,  therefore,  their  consciences  would  not 
let  them  contribute  any  thing.  Now  look  at  it ;  who 
does  not  see  that  there  was  a  wrong  and  fanatical 
spirit  which  actuated  them,  and  that  their  consciences, 
for  solidity  and  rotundity,  very  much  resembled  a 
ram's  horn.  *  But  this  false  view  has  prevented  many, 
very  many  from  doing  their  duty  by  these  poor  chil- 
dren of  Ham. 

In  the  fall  of  1840-41  I  was  appointed  to  Jackson 
ville  district ;  and  on  September  15,  1841,  our  an- 
nual conference  was  held  in  Jacksonville.  Bishop 
Morris  presided.  The  Jacksonville  district  embraced 
the  following  appointments,  namely:  Carrollton  sta- 
tion, Carrollton  circuit,  Grafton,  Whitehall,  Winches- 
ter, Jacksonville  station,  Jacksonville  circuit,  and 
Manchester,  eight  appointments.  In  the  course  of 
this  year  we  had  a  camp  quarterly  meeting,  for 
the  Winchester  circuit,  in  what  was  called  Egypt. 
We  had  a  beautiful  camp-ground,  a  few  miles  from 
Winchester.  There  was  a  general  turn-out  among 
the  members,  who  tented  on  the  ground.  William  D. 
R.  Trotter  was  the  circuit  preacher. 

We  had  been  threatened  by  many  of  the  baser  sort, 
that  they  would  break  up  our  camp  meeting;  and 
there  was  a  general  rally  from  the  floating  population 
of  the  river,  and  the  loose-footed,  doggery-haunting, 
dissipated  renegades  of  the  towns  and  villages  all 
round.  They  came  and  pitched  their  tents  a  few 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  377 

hundred  yards  from  the  camp-ground.  Many  also 
came  in  wagons  and  carriages,  bringing  whisky  and 
spirits  of  different  kinds,  pies,  cigars,  tobacco,  etc. 
We  had  many  respectable  tent-holders  and  proper 
officers  on  the  ground,  but  I  plainly  saw  we  were 
to  have  trouble,  so  I  summoned  the  tent-holders 
and  friends  of  good  order  together,  and  we  adopted 
rules  to  govern  the  meeting,  and  then  urged  them, 
one  and  all,  to  aid  me  in  executing  those  rules  for 
the  maintenance  of  good  order.  But  I  thought  there 
was  a  disposition  in  some  of  the  friends  to  shrink 
from  responsibility,  and  that  they  must  be  roused  to 
action. 

When  we  were  called  to  the  stand  by  the  sound  of 
the  trumpet,  I  called  the  attention  of  the  congregation 
to  the  absolute  necessity  of  keeping  good  order.  I 
stated  that  my  father  was  a  Revolutionary  soldier,  and 
fought  for  the  liberties  we  enjoyed,  and  all  the  boon  he 
had  left  me  was  liberty;  and  that,  as  the  responsible 
officer  of  the  camp  meeting,  if  the  friends  of  order  and 
the  sworn  officers  of  the  law  would  give  me  backing, 
I  would  maintain  order  at  the  risk  of  my  life.  My 
lecture  roused  the  friends  of  order,  and  they  gave  me 
their  countenance  and  aid ;  but  the  whisky-sellers  and 
whisky-drinkers,  nothing  daunted,  commenced  their 
deeds  of  darkness.  Some  were  soon  drunk,  and  inter- 
rupted our  devotions  very  much.  I  then  ordered 
several  writs,  and  took  into  custody  several  of  those 
whisky-venders  and  drunken  rowdies ;  but  these  row 
dies  rose  in  mob  force,  and  rescued  the  whisky-seller 
and  his  wagon  and  team  from  the  officer  of  the  law. 
The  officer  ca^ie  running  to  me,  and  informed  me  of 
the  rising  of  the  mob,  and  that  the  whisky  man  was 
given  up,  and  was  making  his  escape ;  and  it  appeared 
to  me  he  was  very  much  scared.  I  told  him  to  sum- 


378  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

Dion  me  and  five  other  men  that  I  named,  and  I  would 
insure  the  retaking  of  the  transgressor,  in  spite  of  any 
mob.  He  did  so.  We  rushed  upon  them  and  stopped 
the  team.  The  man  that  had  transgressed  drew  a  weap- 
on, and  ordered  us  to  stand  off;  that  he  would  kill  the 
first  man  that  touched  him :  and  as  one  of  the  men  and 
myself  that  were  summoned  to  take  him  rushed  on 
him,  he  made  a  stroke  at  my  companion  with  his 
weapon,  but  missed  him.  I  then  sprang  upon  him 
and  caught  him  by  the  collar,  and  jerked  him  over  the 
wagon  bed,  in  which  he  was  standing,  among  his  bar- 
rels. He  fell  on  all-fours.  I  jumped  on  him,  and  told 
him  he  was  my  prisoner,  and  that  if  he  did  not  sur- 
render I  should  hurt  him.  The  deputy  sheriff  of  the 
county,  who  was  with  the  mob,  and  a  combatant  at 
that,  ran  up  to  me  and  ordered  me  to  let  the  prisoner 
go.  I  told  him  I  should  not.  He  said  if  I  did  not  he 
would  knock  me  over.  I  told  him  if  he  struck  to 
make  a  sure  lick,  for  the  next  was  mine.  Our  officer 
then  commanded  me  to  take  the  deputy  sheriff,  and  I 
did  so.  He  scuffled  a  little;  but  finding  himself  in 
rather  close  quarters,  he  surrendered. 

We  then  took  thirteen  of  the  mob,  the  whisky- 
seller,  and  the  sheriff,  and  marched  them  off  to  the 
magistrate,  to  the  tune  of  good  order.  They  were 
fined  by  the  justice  of  the  peace ;  some  paid  their  fine, 
some  appealed  to  court.  This  appealing  we  liked 
well,  because  they  then  had  to  give  security,  and  this 
secured  the  fine  and  costs,  which  some  cf  them  were 
not  able  to  pay. 

This  somewhat  checked  them  for  a  while,  but  they 
rallied  again  and  gave  us  trouble.  There  was  one 
man,  a  turbulent  fellow,  who  sold  whisky  about  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  off.  He  had  often  interrupted  us 
by  selling  whisky  at  our  camp  meetings.  He  gener- 


PETER    CARTWRianT.  379 

ally  went  armed  with  deadly  weapons,  to  keep  off 
officers.  I  sent  the  constable  after  him,  but  he  had  a 
musket,  well  loaded,  and  would  not  be  taken.  He 
kept  a  drinking  party  round  him  nearly  all  night; 
however,  toward  morning  they  left  him,  and  went  off 
to  sleep  as  best  they  could,  and  he  lay  down  in  his 
wagon,  and  went  to  sleep,  with  his  loaded  musket  by 
his  side. 

Just  as  the  day  dawned  I  slipped  over  the  creek  and 
came  up  to  his  wagon.  He  was  fast  asleep.  I  reached 
over  the  wagon  bed  and  gathered  his  gun  and  am- 
munition ;  then  struck  the  wagon  bed  with  the  muzzle 
of  the  musket,  and  cried  out,  "  Wake  up !  wake  up !" 
He  sprang  to  his  feet,  and  felt  for  his  gun.  I  said, 
"You  are  my  prisoner;  and  if  you  resist,  you  are  a 
dead  man!"  He  begged  me  not  to  shoot,  and  said 
that  he  would  surrender.  I  told  him  to  get  out  of  the 
wagon,  and  march  before  me  to  the  camp-ground; 
that  I  was  going  to  have  him  tried  for  violating  good 
order  and  the  laws  of  his  country.  He  began  to  beg 
most  piteously,  and  said  if  I  would  only  let  him  escape 
that  time,  he  would  gear  up  and  go  right  away,  and 
never  do  the  like  again.  I  told  him  to  harness  his 
team,  and  start.  He  did  so.  When  he  got  ready  to 
go  I  poured  out  his  powder,  and  fired  off  his  musket 
and  gave  it  to  him ;  and  he  left  us,  and  troubled  us 
no  more. 

On  Sunday  night  the  rowdies  all  collected  at  the 
Mormon  camp.  It  was  so  called,  because  some  Mor- 
mons had  come  and  pitched  a  tent  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
from  our  encampment,  with  whisky  and  many  other 
things  to  sell.  They  ate  and  drank;  and  by  way  of 
mockery,  and  in  contempt  of  religion,  they  held 
A  camp  meeting;  they  preached,  prayed,  called  for 
jQourners.  shouted,  and  kept  up  a  continual  annoy 


380  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

ance.  They  sent  me  word  they  would  give  me  ten 
dollars  if  I  would  bring  an  officer  and  a  company  to 
take  them;  that  they  could  whip  our  whole  encamp- 
ment. They  fixed  out  their  watchers. 

I  bore  it,  and  waited  till  late  in  the  night;  and 
when  most  of  our  tent-holders  were  retired  to  rest,  I 
rose  from  my  bed,  dressed  myself  in  some  old  shabby 
clothing  that  I  had  provided  for  the  purpose,  and 
sallied  forth.  It  was  a  beautiful  moonlight  night. 
Singly  and  alone  I  went  up  to  the  Mormon  camp. 
When  I  got  within  a  few  rods  of  their  encampment  I 
stopped,  and  stood  in  the  shadow  of  a  beautiful  sugar- 
tree.  Their  motley  crowd  were  carrying  on  at  a 
mighty  rate.  One  young  man  sprung  upon  a  bar- 
rel, and  called  them  to  order,  saying  he  was  going  to 
preach  to  them  and  must  and  would  have  order,  at 
the  risk  of  his  life.  Said  he,  "My  name  is  Peter 
Cartwright:  my  father  fought  through  the  old  war 
with  England,  and  helped  to  gain  our  independence, 
and  all  the  legacy  he  left  me  was  liberty.  Come  to 
order  and  take  your  seats,  and  hear  me!" 

They  obeyed  him  and  took  their  seats.  He  ther 
sung  and  prayed,  rose  up,  took  his  text,  and  harangued 
them  about  half  an  hour.  He  then  told  them  he  was 
going  to  call  for  mourners,  and  ordered  a  bench 
to  be  set  out;  and  it  was  done.  He  then  invited 
mourners  to  come  forward  and  kneel  down  to  be 
prayed  for.  A  vast  number  of  the  crowd  came  and 
kneeled,  more  than  his  bench  could  accommodate. 
This  self-styled  preacher,  or  orator  of  the  night,  then 
called  lustily  for  another  bench ;  and  still  they  crowd- 
ed to  it.  A  thought  struck  me  that  I  would  go  and 
kneel  with  them,  as  this  would  give  me  a  fine  chance 
to  let  loose  on  them  at  a  proper  time;  but  as  I  had 
determined  to  rout  the  whole  company  and  take  theh 


PETER  CARTWRIGHT.  381 

camp  single-handed  and  alone,  I  declined  kneeling 
with  the  mourners.  So  this  young  champion  of  the 
devil  called  on  several  to  pray  for  these  mourners;  he 
exhorted  them  almost  like  a  real  preacher.  Several 
pretended  to  get  religion,  and  jumped  and  shouted  at 
a  fearful  rate.  Their  preacher  by  this  time  was  pretty 
much  exhausted,  and  became  thirsty.  He  ordered  a 
pause  in  their  exercise,  and  called  for  something  to 
drink;  he  ordered  the  tent-holder  to  bring  the  best 
he  had. 

Just  at  this  moment  I  fetched  two  or  three  loud 
whoops,  and  said,  "Here!  here!  here,  officers  and 
men,  take  them!  take  them!  every  one  of  them, 
tent-holders  and  all!"  and  I  rushed  on  them.  They 
broke,  and  ran  pell-mell.  Fortunately,  five  or  six 
little  lads  were  close  by,  from  our  encampment,  who 
had  been  watching  me  raise  the  shout,  and  rushed 
with  me  into  their  camp;  but  all  the  motley  crowd 
fled,  tent-holders  and  all,  and  the  lads  and  myself 
had  not  only  peaceable,  but  entire  possession  of  all 
their  whisky,  goods,  chattels,  and  some  arms,  and  not 
a  soul  to  dispute  our  right  of  possession.  Thus  you 
see  a  literal  fulfillment  of  Scripture,  "The  wicked 
fleeth  when  no  man  pursueth ;"  or,  "  One  shall  chase 
a  thousand,  and  two  put  ten  thousand  to  flight." 

There  are  but  very  few  hardened  wretches  who 
disturb  religious  worship  but  what  at  heart  are 
base  cowards;  this  I  have  proved  to  my  entire  satis- 
faction throughout  my  ministerial  life,  for  more  than 
fifty  years.  I  will  here  say,  on  Monday,  the  day  after 
the  rout  of  the  Mormon  camp,  the  power  of  God  fell 
on  our  congregation,  and  the  whole  encampment  was 
lighted  with  the  glory  of  God.  The  Church,  or 
members  of  the  Church,  were  greatly  blessed,  and 
felt  fully  compensated  for  all  the  toil  and  trouble  that 


382  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

they  had  been  at  in  pitching  their  tents  in  the  grove 
and  waiting  upon  the  Lord  a  few  days  and  nights. 
Hardened  sinners  were  brought  to  bow  before  the 
Lord,  and  some  of  them  were  soundly  converted. 
And  1  will  record  it  to  the  glory  of  the  stupen- 
dous grace  of  God,  that  the  young  man  who  had 
been  the  ringleader  in  the  ranks  of  these  disturbers 
of  God's  people,  and  the  mock  preacher  in  the  Mor 
in  on  camp  the  night  before,  was  overtaken  by  the 
mighty  power  of  God,  and  awfully  shaken  as  it  were 
over  hell.  He  fell  prostrate  before  God  and  all  the 
people  he  had  so  much  disturbed  and  persecuted, 
and  cried  for  mercy  as  from  the  verge  of  damnation, 
and  never  rested  till  God  reclaimed  him,  for  he  was 
a  wretched  backslider.  I  had  known  him  in  Ten- 
nessee, and  had  often  preached  in  his  father's  house. 

Of  the  disorderly  fellows  who  had  been  arrested  and 
fined,  and  had  appealed  to  the  court,  hardly  one  of 
them  came  to  a  good  end,  or  died  a  natural  death; 
some  ran  away  to  Texas,  some  were  stabbed  in 
affrays  of  different  kinds;  it  seemed  as  if  God  had 
put  a  mark  on  them,  and  his  fearful  judgments  follow- 
ed them  even  into  strange  and  distant  lands.  When 
their  appeals  came  on  for  trial  in  court,  there  were 
two  distinguished  lawyers  who  volunteered  to  con- 
duct the  prosecution  against  them ;  one  of  them  was 
the  lamented  General  Hardin,  of  Morgan  county,  who 
afterward  fell  in  Mexico  in  General  Taylor's  army,  at 
the  memorable  battle  of  Buena  Vista,  while  fighting, 
or  contending  with  Santa  Anna's  unprincipled  min- 
ions; but  he  died  like  a  brave  soldier  and  subordinate 
officer.  Peace  to  his  memory!  He  was  considered  a 
worthy  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  a 
stanch  friend  to  good  order. 

The  other  lawyer,  Mr.  Sanbourn,  though  somewhat 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  383 

dissipated  at  times,  was  a  talented  gentleman  of  the 
bar,  and  a  friend  to  religious  order.  These  gentle- 
men, Avithout  fee  or  reward,  volunteered  their  services 
to  prosecute  these  wretched  disturbers  of  the  worship 
of  God,  and  by  their  eloquent  appeals  to  the  jurors 
made  these  trangressors  quail  before  the  public  bar 
of  their  country ;  and  these  suits,  first  and  last,  cost 
those  offenders  against  the  morals  of  their  country 
over  three  hundred  dollars,  showing  them  clearly 
that  the  way  of  the  transgressor  is  hard.  I  must  re- 
mark here  that  I  was  much  pleased  with  the  decision 
of  Judge  Lockwood,  who  presided  at  the  trial;  his 
decision  was  substantially  this,  that  no  matter  what 
the  articles  were  that  were  sold  at  a  place  of  worship, 
if  it  disturbed  the  peace  and  quiet  of  the  worship- 
ers, it  was  punishable  by  the  statute  that  was  enacted 
for  the  protection  of  worshiping  assemblies ;  that  as 
a  free  people,  where  there  was  no  religious  test,  we 
had  a  right  to  assemble  and  establish  our  own  forms, 
or  rules  of  order,  and  that  any  thing  which  infracted 
those  rules  of  order  made  to  govern  a  worshiping 
songregation,  the  law  made  a  high  misdemeanor,  and 
therefore  those  who  transgressed  those  rules  were 
punishable  by  the  law.  Our  present  law  to  protect 
worshiping  congregations  is  too  loose  and  obscure. 
In  the  hands  of  good  officers  of  the  law,  the  present 
statute  will  protect  people  in  the  sacred  right  to 
worship  God ;  but  in  the  hands  of  corrupt  officers  it 
is  often  construed  to  screen  offenders,  and  thereby 
give  encouragement  to  disorderly  persons  to  trample 
with  impunity  on  the  rights  of  religious  people.  I 
have  often  wondered  why  legislative  bodies  of  men 
should  be  so  reluctant  to  pass  a  stringent  law  on  this 
subject.  If  people  do  n't  like  the  forms  of  worship 
}f  any  religious  denomination,  let  them  stay  away; 


384  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

but  if  they  will  attend  their  religious  assemblies,  they 
ought  to  behave  themselves ;  and  if  they  will  not  be- 
have and  conform,  they  ought  by  law  to  be  compelled 
to  do  it,  or  punished  severely  for  trampling  under  foot 
the  rights  of  a  free  people  assembled  for  the  express 
purpose  of  peaceably  worshiping  God.  The  good 
book  is  right  when  it  declares,  "When  the  wicked 
bear  rule  the  land  mourneth,"  and  that  "  righteous- 
ness exalteth  a  nation,  but  sin  is  a  "reproach  to  any 
people;"  but  we  still  hope  to  see  better  days,  better 
laws,  and  better  administrators  of  law.  The  Lord 
hasten  it  in  his  time  ! 


PBTERCARTWRIOHT.  385 


CHAPTER  XXVL 

CHURCH   IN  A  CABIN. 

Is  the  fall  of  1842  our  Illinois  conference  was 
held  in  Winchester,  Scott  county,  September  14th  ; 
Bishop  Roberts  presided,  and  I  was  continued  on 
the  Jacksonville  district.  The  reader  wilL  indulge 
me  in  saying  a  few  things  about  my  own  immediate 
neighborhood.  When  I  settled  here  in  1824,  there  was 
no  society  nearer  than  five  miles  on  Rock  creek,  to 
which  place  my  family  had  to  go  for  circuit  preach- 
ing and  class  meeting  every  Sunday,  if  they  attended 
any  where.  There  was  in  my  immediate  settlement 
bat  one  single  member  of  the  Methodist  Church,  be- 
siles  my  own  family.  This  member  was  a  widow 
lady,  a  very  fine  woman,  and  I  think  a  consistent 
Christian. 

The  country  was  entirely  new  and  almost  in  a  state 
of  nature ;  we  had  no  churches  to  worship  in ;  nearly 
all  the  citizens  lived  in  newly-built  cabins.  We  thought 
we  would  open  our  cabin  for  preaching,  and  did  so, 
and  invited  the  neighbors  to  come  and  hear  the  word 
of  God,  and  worship  with  us.  I  formed  a  small  class 
of  about  twelve,  including  three  of  my  own  family, 
and  we  kept  circuit  preaching  in  our  humble  dwelling 
for  fourteen  years,  during  which  time  our  little  class 
continued  with  various  successes  and  depressions  from 
year  to  year.  Sometimes  by  emigration  we  increased 
considerably,  and  then,  when  these  new  emigrants 
would  select  homes  for  themselves,  and  move  off.  we 
25 


886  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

would  be  reduced  almost  to  the  number  with  which  we 
started. 

About  this  time  my  wife's  health  was  very  poor,  so 
that  entertaining  preaching  every  two  weeks,  and 
class  meeting  every  Sunday,  became  a  little  too 
much  for  her  strength.  I  determined  to  build  a 
church ;  but  Kow  was  it  to  be  done  ?  The  society 
was  small  and  poor,  the  citizens  outside  of  the  society 
were  comparatively  poor,  and  not  friendly  to  the 
Methodists ;  but  I  determined  to  build  a  house  to 
worship  God  in,  and  accordingly  I  opened  a  subscrip- 
tion, had  trustees  appointed,  gave  a  lot  of  ground  to 
build  the  church  on,  and  subscribed  one  hundred 
dollars  toward  its  erection..  But  when  I  presented 
my  subscription  paper  to  neighbors  round,  there  were 
many  objections  and  excuses;  some  wanted  it  for 
school  purposes  as  well  as  a  church ;  some  said  if  I 
would  make  it  a  Union  church  for  all  denominations, 
they  would  then  help,  but  they  would  not  give  any 
thing  if  it  was  to  be  deeded  to  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church.  To  these  objections  I  answered,  No, 
friends ;  a  church  should  never  be  a  school-house ; 
and  as  for  a  Union  church,  I  never  knew  one  built 
on  this  principle  but  what  became  a  bone  of  conten- 
tion and  created  strife,  and  ended  in  confusion ;  that 
a  church  should  always  belong  to  some  religious  de- 
nomination that  would  take  care  of  it,  and  I  was 
going  to  build  a  church  for  the  Methodists ;  if  they 
would  help  me  I  would  thank  them ;  and  if  they  did 
not  see  proper  to  do  so,  I  would  try  without  their 
help  as  best  I  could.  Our  help  amounted  to  but 
little,  but  we  commenced,  and  finally  succeeded  in 
building  a  neat  little  church,  twenty-four  by  thirty 
feet,  which  cost  us  about  six  hundred  dollars,  of 
which  I  had  to  pay  about  three  hundred.  I  strug- 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  387 

^led  hard,  and  sometimes  thought  my  load  was  too 
heavy  to  get  along  with,  but  my  creed  wag  never  to 
back  out  unless  I  found  myself  wrong. 

Shortly  after  we  finished  the  house,  brother  Heath, 
now  of  California,  and  brother  H.  Wallace,  of  the 
Griggsville  district,  Illinois  conference,  were  our  cir- 
cuit preachers,  and  it  pleased  the  Lord  to  pour  out 
his  Holy  Spirit  upon  our  congregation  and  settlement 
generally,  and  we  had  a  glorious  revival,  resulting  in 
about  forty  conversions  and  accessions  to  the  Church. 
I  then  thought  that  the  use  I  had  made  of  the  $300 
in  building  the  church,  was  the  best  investment  I  had 
ever  made  in  all  my  life.  We  called  the  house 
"  Pleasant  Plains  Church." 

Long  since  our  little  church  became  too  small,  and 
we  have  enlarged  it  so  that  it  is  now  thirty  feet  by 
fifty.  Our  society  increased  so  that  a  division  has 
taken  place,  and  another  very  respectable  church  has 
been  built  a  few  miles  off,  and  the  two  societies  num- 
ber near  one  hundred  and  eighty  members,  and  the 
time  is  not  distant  when  another  church  must  be  erect- 
ed a  few  miles  south  of  the  old  stand.  See  what  the 
Lord  has  done  for  us,  under  all  the  forbidding  circum- 
stances that  attended  our  little  history  in  the  last 
thirty  years.  Praise  the  Lord ! 

I  beg  leave  here  to  say  that  the  first  church,  as  far 
as  I  know,  ever  built  in  Sangamon  county  and  San- 
gamon  circuit,  was  on  Spring  creek,  six  miles  west 
of  Springfield.  It  was  really  a  log-cabin,  about  eight- 
een feet  by  twenty,  with  a  log  partition  cutting  off  a 
small  part  of  it  for  a  class-room.  Here  was  one  of 
the  oldest  classes  ever  formed  in  Sangamon  circuit. 
In  this  little  house  the  soc5°ty  met  and  worshiped  for 
many  years ;  and,  on  the  lot  donated  for  the  church 
and  burying-ground,  the  circuit  erected  a  large  and 


388  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

comfortable  camp-ground,  and  many,  very  many, 
glorious  camp  meetings  were  held  here,  and  I  may 
safely  say  that  hundreds  of  souls  were  born  into  the 
kingdom  of  God  on  this  consecrated  ground;  and 
many  of  those  who  sung  and  shouted  the  high  praises 
of  God  on  this  ground  have  long  since  fallen  victims 
to  death,  and  are  now  employed  in  singing  praises  to 
God  and  the  Lamb,  around  the  throne  in  heaven. 

This  camp-ground  was  called  "Watters's  Camp- 
Ground."  He  lived  near  it,  but  years  gone  by  he 
left  the  Church  militant  for  the  Church  triumphant 
above.  This  spot  is  sacred  to  me,  as  several  of  my 
children  were  converted  on  it,  and  many  of  my  best 
friends  in  heaven,  as  well  as  on  earth,  were  converted 
here,  and  we  have  sung,  and  prayed,  and  shouted 
together,  and  I  have  a  strong  hope  that  we  shall 
shortly  sing  together  in  heaven,  and  this  singing  and 
ehouting  will  last  forever.  Amen. 

In  1840-41  Alton  station,  that  had  been  attached  to 
the  Lebanon  district,  Charles  Holliday  presiding  elder, 
was  attached  to  the  Jacksonville  district,  N.  Hobart 
in  charge.  In  the  fall  of  1842-43  N.  S.  Bastion  and 
C.  J.  Houts  were  appointed  to  Alton.  Our  quarterly 
meeting  came  off  in  the  dead  of  the  winter;  and 
although  it  was  bitter  cold  weather,  we  had  a  good 
congregation,  and  Divine  power  was  present  to  heal. 
Many  were  converted  and  deeply  penitent,  and  we 
found  it  necessary  to  protract  the  meeting.  Mourners, 
in  crowds,  came  to  the  altar  for  the  prayers  of  the 
Church.  Right  in  the  midst  of  our  revival,  the  keeper 
of  the  Eagle  Tavern  took  it  into  his  heart — not  head, 
for  that  was  nearly  brainless — that  he  would  stop  our 
revivals;  so  he  proclaimed  that  he  was  going  to  have  a 
splendid  free  ball  the  next  evening  at  the  Eagle  Tavern, 
and  dispatched  his  runners  and  ticketed  nearly  the 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  389 

whole  city.  Among  the  rest  he  sent  me  a  ticket  to  the 
church,  where  we  were  having  a  very  good  meeting. 
Just  before  the  congregation  was  dismissed  I  rose  in 
the  pulpit  and  read  my  ticket  to  the  ball,  and  then 
announced  that  I  could  not  attend  the  Eagle  Tavern 
ball,  for  the  reason  that  I  was  going  to  have  a 
Methodist  ball  in  the  church  the  same  evening,  and 
requested  the  whole  congregation  to  attend  the 
Methodist  ball,  and  get  as  many  more  to  come  with 
them  as  they  could ;  that  my  invitation  they  might 
consider  as  a  free  ticket;  that  I  was  sure  we  would 
have  a  better  fiddler  than  they  possibly  could  scare 
up  at  the  Eagle  Tavern.  The  thing  took  like  wild 
fire.  The  wickedest  persons  in  the  congregation  elec- 
tioneered for  the  Methodist  ball,  and  cried  out  shame 
on  the  tavern-keeper.  When  the  evening  came,  after 
all  the  drilling  and  drumming  of  the  tavern-keeper, 
he  could  not  get  ladies  enough  to  dance  a  four-handed 
reel.  He  succeeded  in  getting  two  little  girls  and 
some  men,  and  these  mean  fellows  had  well-nigh 
danced  the  children  to  death.  Our  church  was 
crowded  to  overflowing.  That  night  the  arm  of  the 
Lord  was  made  bare,  and  the  mighty  power  of  God 
was  felt  through  the  numerous  crowd.  Many  came 
to  the  altar  as  weeping  penitents,  but  rose  therefrom 
•with  triumphant  shouts  of  "Glory  to  God  in  the 
highest,  peace  on  earth,  good-will  toward  men." 

I  now  beg  leave  to  relate  an  incident  which  oc- 
curred at  this  meeting;  I  will  do  it  as  delicately  as  I 
well  can.  Among  the  crowd  that  came  to  the  altar 
there  were  many  women,  and  among  them  two  good- 
looking,  well-dressed  young  ladies,  who  were  deeply 
affected ;  it  seemed  as  if  the  great  deep  of  their  hearts 
was  broken  up.  I  was  informed  that  they  were  under 
ill-fame,  and  an  old  sister  in  the  Church  was  so  dis- 


390  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

turbed  about  them  that  she  wanted  me  to  drive  them 
from  the  altar,  for  fear  we  should  be  reproached  and 
bring  down  persecution  on  the  Church.  I  told  her  to 
be  quiet,  and  let  them  alone,  "for,"  said  I,  "they 
must  have  religion,  or  be  lost  forever."  But  the  old 
Bister  would  not  rest;  she  ran  to  brother  Bastion  and 
told  him.  He  was  a  very  sensitive  man.  He  came 
to  me  and  whispered,  telling  me  they  must  be  ordered 
away  directly;  it  would  ruin  our  meeting  and  stop 
the  work.  I  begged  him  to  let  them  alone.  "Now," 
said  I,  "  brother,  on  the  other  side  of  the  altar  there 
are  a  dozen  men  that,  in  all  probability,  are  guilty  of 
as  base  conduct  as  these  young  women;  why  do  n't 
you  go  and  drive  them  from  the  altar?  Do  let  them 
alone.  Do  you  go  and  talk  to  the  men,  and  I  will 
attend  to  these  females ;  they  must  not  be  driven  from 
the  altar  of  prayer."  But  two  of  our  old,  squeamish 
sisters,  when  I  turned  away  from  brother  Bastion,  re- 
newed their  importunities  with  Bastion,  and,  while  my 
attention  was  called  to  regulate  the  congregation, 
Bastion  went  and  ordered  these  two  women  from  the 
altar.  They  retired  away  back  to  a  vacant  seat  and 
Bat  down,  and  wept  bitterly.  As  soon  as  I  discovered 
what  was  done,  I  followed  those  women  to  their  seats, 
and  talked  with  them  and  encouraged  them,  saying. 
"Although  you  may  be  rejected  by  mortals,  God  will 
not  reject  or  spurn  you  from  his  presence.  Mary 
Magdalene  had  seven  devils,  yet  Christ  cast  them  all 
out;  the  man  in  the  tombs  had  a  legion  of  devils  in 
him,  but  Christ  dispossessed  them  all."  They  asked 
me  to  pray  for  them.  "Yes,"  said  I,  "with  all  my 
heart,"  and  we  knelt  down  and  prayed.  It  seemed  as 
if  their  hearts  would  break  with  the  sorrow  and 
anguish  they  felt ;  and  then,  to  punish  those  sensitive 
old  sisters,  I  went  and  made  them  come  and  pray  for 


PETER    CARTW  RIGHT.  391 

them,  and  before  we  closed  our  meeting  one  of  them 
professed  to  be  converted,  and  I  have  no  reason  to 
doubt  it.  The  other  left  the  house  weeping.  She 
never  returned  to  our  meeting.  Perhaps  she  was  for- 
ever lost  on  account  of  this  uncalled-for  rebuke. 

The  next  time  we  opened  the  doors  of  the  Church, 
to  take  in  members,  a  number  came  and  joined.  This 
young  woman,  who  had  experienced  religion,  ad- 
vanced to  the  foot  of  the  altar,  but  would  not  come 
and  give  me  her  hand.  I  saw  she  wanted  to  join,  but 
was  afraid,  not  having  confidence  to  do  so ;  and  she 
said,  afterward,  she  thought  the  Church  would  not 
receive  her.  I  went  to  her,  took  her  by  the  hand, 
and  asked  her  if  she  did  not  desire  to  join  the  Church. 
She  said,  with. streaming  eyes,  "Yes,  if  the  Church 
can  possibly  receive  me,  and  grant  ine  the  lowest  seat 
among  God's  people. " 

I  lived  to  see  this  woman  in  other  and  after  years, 
and  with  firm  and  unfaltering  steps  she  lived  up  to 
her  profession,  and  thoroughly  redeemed  herself  from 
degradation,  in  the  estimation  of  all  who  knew  her. 
Now,  dear  reader,  think  of  it.  Did  Christ  reject  the 
woman  taken  in  adultery,  or  the  woman  of  Samaria 
at  the  well,  or  any  other  poor  wretched  sinner,  male 
or  female,  that  ever  came  to  him  with  a  broken  and 
contrite  heart?  Think  of  the  significant  words  of 
the  poet, 

"None  are  too  rile,  who  will  repent. 
Out  of  one  sinner  legions  went, 
The  Lord  did  him  relieve,"  etc. 

It  is  a  little  singular  why  men,  and  ^omen  too, 
should  feel  such  sensitiveness  concerning  temales  of 
ill-fame  more  than  they  do  in  relation  to  men ;  espe- 
cially when  they  make  efforts  to  reform  their  lives 


892  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

and  live  religious,  Lut  it  is  so,  though  I  can  not  see 
any  just  reason  for  it. 

This  conference  year,  1842-43,  was  a  memorable 
one  in  many  parts  of  our  beloved  Zion.  Jacksonville 
district  shared  largely  in  revival  influences.  Several 
hundred  were  soundly  converted,  and  over  five  hun- 
dred joined  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  the 
bounds  of  the  district.  We  not  only  had  the  above- 
named  revival  in  Alton,  but  brother  Bird  had  a  pros- 
perous year  on  the  Carrollton  circuit ;  brother  J.  B 
llouts  considerable  prosperity  on  the  Whitehall  cir- 
cuit ;  brother  Grubbs  had  a  fine  revival  in  the  Jack- 
sonville station,  but  perhaps  it  was  a  jubilee  to  the 
Winchester  circuit,  under  the  labors  of  brother  Nor- 
man Allen,  and  those  that  worked  side  by  side  with 
him  pretty  near  the  whole  year. 

Naples,  a  beautiful  little  town  on  the  east  bank  of 
the  Illinois  river,  was  one  of  the  appointments  in  the 
Winchester  circuit.  The  citizens  were  kind  and 
friendly ;  but,  with  a  few  exceptions,  they  were  very 
wicked,  and  had  long  resisted  and  rejected  the  oifers 
of  mercy  ;  but  at  a  protracted  meeting  gotten  up  and 
superintended  by  brother  Allen,  this  wicked  little 
town  was  awfully  shaken  by  the  power  of  God ;  many 
tall  sons  and  daughters  of  dissipation  were  made  to 
quail  under  the  power  of  God.  From  day  to  day, 
from  evening  to  evening,  they  crowded  the  place  of 
worship,  and,  with  unmistakable  signs  of  penitence 
prostrated  themselves  at  the  mourners'  bench.  The 
cries  of  the  penitent  and  the  shouts  of  the  convertel 
were  heard  with  awe  and  wonder  by  the  wicked  mul- 
titude that  stood  around.  Deism  gave  way,  Univcr- 
ealism  caved  in,  skepticism,  with  its  coat  of  many 
colors,  stood  aghast,  hell  trembled,  devils  fled,  drunk- 
ards awoke  to  soberness,  and,  I  may  safely  say,  all 


PETER   CARTWRIGHT.  398 

ranks  and  grades  of  sinners  were  made  to  cry  out, 
"  Men  and  brethren,  what  shall  we  do  to  be  saved  ?" 
The  cries  of  penitents  were  not  only  heard  in  the 
church,  but  in  the  streets,  in  almost  all  the  houses, 
by  day  and  by  night.  Many  were  the  thrilling  inci- 
dents that  attended  this  revival  in  Naples.  More 
than  one  hundred  were  converted,  and  joined  the 
Church,  and  the  whole  face  of  the  town  was  changed ; 
and  although  some  of  them  fell  back  into  their  old 
habits  of  vice,  yet  many  of  them  stood  firm  as  pillars 
in  the  house  of  God.  The  subjects  of  this  revival 
were  from  the  child  of  ten  or  twelve  years  to  the 
hoary-headed  sinner  that  stood  trembling  on  the  verge 
of  the  grave. 

Before  this  meeting  closed  in  Naples,  which  waa 
crowned  with  such  signal  success,  our  quarterly  meet- 
ing commenced  in  a  little  town  in  the  same  circuit 
called  Exeter.  There  Satan  had  long  reigned  without 
a  rival,  wickedness  of  all  kinds  abounded,  and  what 
made  it  the  more  deplorable,  the  wickedness  of  the 
people  was  sanctified  by  a  Universalist  priest  or 
preacher,  who  assured  them  all  of  eternal  salvatior 
in  heaven,  irrespective  of  their  moral  conduct  here 
on  earth.  I  have  thought,  and  do  still  think,  if  ] 
were  to  set  out  to  form  a  plan  to  contravene  the  laws 
of  God,  to  encourage  wickedness  of  all  kinds,  to  cor- 
rupt the  morals  and  encourage  vice,  and  crowd  hell 
with  the  lost  and  the  waitings  of  the  damned,  the  Uni 
versalist  plan  should  be  the  plan,  the  very  plan,  that 
I  would  adopt.  What  has  a  Universalist,  who  really 
and  sincerely  believes  that  doctrine,  to  fear?  Just 
nothing  at  all ;  for  this  flesh-pleasing,  conscience-sooth- 
ing doctrine  will  not  only  justify  him  in  his  neglect 
of  duty  to  God  and  man,  but  gives  fallen  nature  ac 
unlimited  license  to  serve  the  devil  with  greediness 


394  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

in  any  and  every  possible  way  that  his  degenerate, 
fallen  soul  requires  or  desires. 

A  few  years  ago  I  had  a  neighbor  who  professed  to 
be  a  confirmed  Universalist.  He  contended  with1  me 
that  there  was  no  devil  but  the  evil  disposition  in 
man,  and  that  there  was  no  hell  but  the  bad  feelings 
that  men  had  when  they  did  wrong;  that  this  was  al1 
the  punishment  any  body  would  suffer.  When  this 
neighbor's  father  lay  on  his  dying  bed — a  confirmed 
Universalist,  professedly — there  was  a  faithful  minis- 
ter of  Christ  believed  it  his  duty  to  visit  this  old  Uni- 
versalist, and  warn  him  of  his  danger,  and  try  to 
awaken  his  conscience,  if  not  seared,  to  a  just  view 
of  his  real  situation.  The  minister,  however,  failed 
in  his  faithful  attempt  and  well-meant  endeavors ; 
for  the  old  man,  then  on  his  dying  pillow,  was  greatly 
offended  at  the  preacher,  and  told  him  he  did  not 
thank  him  for  trying  to  shake  his  faith  in  his  dying 
moments.  This  neighbor  of  mine,  and  son  of  this 
old,  hardened  sinner,  was  greatly  enraged  at  the 
preacher,  and  cursed  and  abused  him  in  a  violent 
manner.  A  few  days  after  the  demise  of  the  old  man, 
he,  in  a  furious  rage,  began  to  abuse  and  curse  the 
preacher  in  my  presence,  and  said, 

"D n  him,  I  wish  he  was  in  hell,  and  the  devil 

had  him." 

I  stopped  him  short  by  saying,  "Pooh,  pooh,  man, 
what  are  you  talking  about?  There  is  no  hell  but  the 
bad  feelings  that  a  man  has  when  he  does  wrong,  and 
no  devil  but  the  evil  disposition  that  is  in  man." 
Thus  answering  a  fool  according  to  his  folly. 

"Well,"  said  he,  "if  there  is  no  hell,  there  ought 
to  be,  to  put  such  preachers  in." 

"  Now,  sir,"  said  I,  "  you  see  the  utter  untenableness 
of  your  creed,  for  a  man,  even  in  trying  to  do  good 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  395 

honestly,  draws  down  your  wrath,  and,  in  a  moment, 
you  want  a  hell  to  put  him  into,  and  a  devil  to  tor- 
ment him,  for  giving  you  an  offense,  and  for  doing 
what  no  good  man  ought  to  be  offended  about.  But 
God  must  be  insulted,  his  name  blasphemed,  his  laws 
trampled  under  foot,  yet  he  must  have  no  hell  to  put 
such  wretches  in,  no  devil  to  torment  him.  Now  I 
would  be  ashamed  of  myself  if  I  were  in  your  place, 
and  let  the  seal  of  truth  close  my  lips  forever  here- 
after." 

Although  he  was  confounded,  he  still  clave  to  his 
God-dishonoring  doctrine,  waxing  worse  and  worse, 
till  it  was  generally  believed  he  was  guilty  of  a  most 
heinous  crime. 

But  to  return  to  the  narrative.  From  the  first  ser- 
mon in  Exeter,  at  the  quarterly  meeting,  there  were 
visible  signs  of  good,  and  although  the  weather  was 
intensely  cold,  yet  our  Church  was  crowded  beyond 
its  utmost  capacity.  The  power  of  God  arrested 
many  careless  sinners,  and  waked  up  many  old  form- 
al professors  of  religion.  There  was  a  large  com- 
pany of  young  unfledged  Universalists  who  came  to 
look  on  and  mock ;  and  so  ignorant  were  they,  that 
they  did  not  imagine  they  would  run  into  any  pos- 
sible danger  of  taking  these  "Methodist  fits,"  as  they 
called  the  exercises  that  were  going  on.  There  were 
two  sisters,  young  ladies,  carried  off  with  the  soul-de- 
stroying doctrines  of  the  Universalists,  in  attendance 
In  pressing  through  the  crowd  I  saw  one  of  them  was 
deeply  affected,  and  weeping.  I  went  and  talked  with 
her.  She  saw  her  wretched  condition.  I  invited  her 
to  go  to  the  altar  with  the  mourners ;  she  consented, 
and  I  led  her  there.  I  talked  and  prayed  with  her; 
she  was  deeply  engaged.  Her  sister  did  not  know 
for  some  time  that  she  was  at  the  mourners'  bench, 


896  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

but  presently  some  one  told  her.  At  this  she  flew 
into  a  violent  rage,  and  said,  at  the  risk  of  her  life, 
she  would  have  her  out  of  that  disgraceful  place.  I 
happened  to  turn  my  face  toward  the  door,  and  saw 
her  coming;  the  house  was  very  much  crowded;  some 
tried  to  stop  her,  but  she  rushed  on.  I  rose  and  met 
her  in  the  crowded  aisle,  and  told  her  to  be  calm  and 
desist.  She  made  neither  better  nor  worse  of  it  than 
to  draw  back  her  arm  and  give  me  a  severe  slap 
in  the  face  with  her  open  hand.  I  confess  this  rather 
took  me  by  surprise,  and,  as  the  common  saying  is,  she 
made  the  fire  fly  out  of  my  eyes  in  tremendous 
sparkling  brilliancy;  but  collecting  my  best  judg- 
ment, I  caught  her  by  the  arms  near  her  shoulders, 
and  wheeled  her  to  the  right  about,  and  moved  her 
forward  to  the  door,  and  said,  "  Gentlemen,  please  open 
the  door;  the  devil  in  this  Universalist  lady  has  got 
fighting  hot,  and  I  want  to  set  her  outside  to  cool." 
The  door  was  opened,  and  I  landed  her  out  with  this 
assurance,  that  when  she  got  in  a  good  humor,  and 
could  behave  herself  like  a  decent  lady  ought  to  do, 
then,  and  not  till  then,  she  might  come  in  again.  I 
then  closed  the  door,  and  set  a  watch  to  keep  it  to 
avoid  further  disturbance. 

I  hardly  returned  to  the  altar  when  the  young 
lady  I  had  led  there  rose  and  gave  us  a  heavenly 
shout,  and  then  another,  and  another,  till  five 
in  rapid  succession  raised  the  shout.  It  ran  like 
electricity  through  the  congregation;  sinners  wept, 
quaked,  and  trembled,  and  saints  shouted  aloud  for 
joy.  Thus  our  meeting  continued  for  a  number  of 
nights  and  days,  and  many  souls  were  born  into  the 
kingdom  of  God.  The  whole  country  around  for 
miles  came  to  our  meetings,  were  convicted  and  con- 
verted, and  great  was  the  joy  of  the  people  of 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  397 

God.  Over  one  hundred  professed  religion,  and 
nearly  that  number  joined  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church. 

There  was  a  gentleman  in  this  place  who  had  been 
very  wicked,  a  noted  gambler,  by  the  name  of 

W 1;  he  was  an  esquire.     He  got  under  serious 

concern  for  his  salvation,  and  sent  for  me ;  I  went 
and  prayed  with  him.  After  talking  with  him  a  little 
he  got  up  deliberately,  went  to  his  desk,  took  out  his 
cards,  stepped  to  the  fire,  and  pitched  them  in,  mak- 
ing a  whole  burnt-offering  of  them.  Shortly  after 
this  he  found  peace,  and  was,  as  I  believe,  soundly 
converted  to  God.  He  seemed  to  have  the  innocence 
and  simplicity  of  a  child.  He  was  very  zealous 
for  God,  and  gave  great  promise  of  doing  good.  He 
had  a  brother-in-law  and  sister  in  Nauvoo,  among 
the  self-deluded  Mormons.  His  sister  professed  to 
have  the  gift  of  tongues,  and  his  brother-in-law  the 
gift  of  healing  all  manner  of  diseases,  and  the  inter- 
pretation of  tongues. 

This  brother,  in  his  zeal  for  God,  was  impressed  that 
he  must  go  to  Nauvoo  to  convince  his  brother-in-law 
and  sister,  and  all  the  rest  of  the  Mormons,  that  they 
were  wrong.  I  tried  to  dissuade  him,  knowing  they 
were  artful  and  cunning,  and  adepts  in  practicing 
frauds  and  religious  jugglery,  and  that  he  was  just  in 
&  state  of  mind  to  be  deceived,  without  any  experience 
of  the  devices  of  the  devil,  especially  of  his  power  to 
transform  himself  into  an  angel  of  light;  but,  despite 
all  my  remonstrances,  go  he  must,  and  go  he  did;  and, 
as  I  predicted,  they  were  ready  for  him.  They  told  him 
that  he  was  just  right  as  far  as  he  had  gone;  that  the 
Methodists  were  right  as  far  as  they  had  gone,  and 
next  to  the  Latter-day  Saints,  alias  Mormons,  were 
the  best  people  in  all  the  land,  but  they  had  stopped 


898  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

short  of  their  grand  and  glorious  mission;  that  thay 
were  afraid  of  persecution,  and  had  shrunk  from  their 
duty;  that  if  they  had  followed  the  light  they  would 
have  taken  the  world,  and  that  the  best  and  holiest 
men  and  women  among  the  Mormons  had  been  mem- 
bers of  the  Methodist  Church.  They  told  him  if  he 
would  join  the  Mormons  and  live  faithful,  that  in  a 
very  little  time  he  would  have  the  gift  of  tongues, 
and  the  gift  of  healing,  so  that  by  faith  he  would 
raise  the  dead  as  did  the  first  Christians.  The  fatal 
bait  was  gulped  down;  they  took  him  to  the  river 
and  ducked  him  ;  and  when  I  last  saw  him  he  was  in 
daily  expectation  of  these  great  gifts.  I  told  him  he 
would  never  receive  them ;  and  he  promised  me  if  he 
did  not,  he  would  leave  them.  What  has  become  of 
him  I  know  not,  but  it  is  probable  he  is  at  Utah,  and 
has  fifteen  or  twenty  wives. 

I  will  name  another  incident  connected  with  this 
revival.  There  was  an  interesting  young  man,  well 
educated,  and  gentlemanly  in  all  his  conduct,  from 
some  of  the  eastern  states.  He  boarded  at  a  house 
I  frequently  visited.  He  was  serious ;  I  talked  to  him, 
and  he  frankly  admitted  the  real  necessity  of  religion, 
and  said,  for  his  right  hand  he  would  not  lay  a  straw 
in  the  w*ay  of  any  person  to  prevent  him  from  get- 
ting religion ;  but  he  said  he  was  not  ready  to  start 
in  this  glorious  cause,  but  that  he  fully  intended 
at  some  future  time  to  seek  religion.  I  urged  him 
to  submit  now;  that  in  all  probability  he  never  would 
live  to  see  so  good  a  time  to  get  religion  as  the  pres- 
ent. He  admitted  all  I  said,  and  wept  like  a  child; 
but  I  could  not  prevail  on  him  to  start  now  in  thin 
heavenly  race. 

As  our  meeting  was  drawing  to  a  close,  I  was  un- 
commonly anxious  to  see  this  young  man  converted, 


PETER   CARTWRIGHT.  399 

but  I  was  not  permitted  to  see  it.  Some  little  time 
before  we  closed  the  meeting,  a  messenger  arrived  for 
me  to  go  to  another  town  where  the  work  of  religion 
had  broken  out,  and  they  greatly  needed  ministerial 
aid.  The  day  after  I  left  this  young  man  he  was  tak- 
en violently  ill.  His  disease  was  rapid,  all  medical  aid 
failed,  and  he  was  shortly  given  over  by  his  physi- 
cians to  die.  He  sent  post-haste  for  me  to  come  to 
him.  I  hastened  to  him,  but  never  to  the  last  mo- 
ment of  my  recollection  shall  I  ever  forget  the  bit- 
ter lamentations  of  this  young  man.  "  0 !"  said  he, 
"if  I  had  taken  your  advice  a  few  days  ago,  which 
you  gave  me  in  tears,  and  which,  in  spite  of  all  my 
resistance,  drew  tears  from  my  eyes,  I  should  have 
now  been  ready  to  die.  God's  Spirit  strove  with  me 
powerfully,  but  I  was  stubborn,'  and  resisted  it.  If 
I  had  yielded  then,  I  believe  God  would  have  saved 
me  from  my  sins;  but  now,  racked  with  pain  almost 
insupportable,  and  scorched  with  burning  fevers,  and 
on  the  very  verge  of  an  eternal  world,  I  have  no  hope 
in  the  future ;  all  is  dark,  dark,  and  gloomy.  Through 
light  and  mercy  I  have  evaded  and  resisted  God,  his 
Spirit,  and  his  ministers,  and  now  I  must  make  my 
bed  in  hell,  and  bid  an  eternal  farewell  to  all  the 
means  of  grace  and  all  hope  of  heaven;  lost!  lost! 
forever  lost !" 

In  this  condition  he  breathed  his  last.  It' was  a 
solemn  and  awful  scene;  mournfully  I  turned  away 
and  wept  bitterly.  I  never  think  of  this  scene  but 
with  mournful  feelings.  God  forbid  that  I  should  die 
the  death  of  such  a  one!  But  how  many  are  there 
that  have  lived  and  died  like  this  pleasant  young 
man;  approve  the  right,  but  choose  the  wrong;  put 
off  the  day  of  their  return  to  God;  wade  through 
tears  and  prayers  of  ministers  and  pious  friends;  til) 


100  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

they  make  the  dreadful  plunge,  and  have  to  say, 
"Lost!  lost!  lost!  forever  lost !"  0,  sinner,  stop  and 
think  before  you  further  go !  Turn,  and  turn  now. 

I  hastened  to  Winchester,  where  the  brethren  had 
rallied,  and  were  engaged  in  a  glorious  revival  of 
religion.  They  had  sent  off  for  brother  Akers,  who 
had  been  with  them  several  days,  battling  successfully 
for  the  cause  of  true  religion,  and  was  made  the  hon 
ored  instrument  of  much  good  to  many  souls.  I  met 
brother  Akers  between  Jacksonville  and  Winchester; 
he  was  compelled  to  leave  for  his  regular  field  of 
labor.  When  I  met  him  he  exclaimed,  "One  woe 
is  past,  and  behold,  another  cometh !"  The  Camp- 
bellite  preachers,  and  many  of  their  members,  had 
rushed  into  our  meeting,  and  tried  to  hinder  or  stop 
the  blessed  work  by  drawing  our  people  into  foolish 
controversy.  Brother  Akers  had  used  the  artillery 
of  truth  very  successfully  against  this  false  form  of 
religion.  To  this  he  referred  Avhen  I  met  him  as  he 
was  leaving  and  I  was  hastening  to  the  field  of 
battle. 

When  I  got  to  the  meeting  I  found  a  blessed  work 
in  prosperous  progress.  It  really  seemed  to  me  that 
the  Campbellites,  and  especially  their  preacher,  were 
as  restless  as  fallen  demons.  They  tried  to  draw  off 
our  laboring  members  into  vain  and  hurtful  debates; 
and  instead  of  encouraging  mourners  to  seek  on,  they 
tried  to  confuse  their  minds,  and  throw  doubts  ami 
difficulties  in  their  way;  and  all  round,  and  in  the 
congregation,  they  were  busy  in  this  way,  to  confuse 
the  minds  of  the  people,  and  draw  them  off  from 
seeking  God.  At  once  I  saw  through  their  plan,  and 
the  bad  effects  of  such  a  course,  if  permitted  to  be 
carried  on.  When  at  our  first  coming  together  after 
my  arrival,  I  forbade  all  controversy  of  this  kind,  and 


PETER    CARTWRIG1IT.  401 

cold  our  brethren  they  must  not  indulge  in  it  any 
more,  and  said  to  all  that  were  opposed  to  the  glori- 
ous work  in  progress,  if  they  did  not  like  it  they  must 
and  should  desist  from  entering  into  debates  about  it 
in  the  congregation,  the  most  of  the  Canipbellites 
desisted,  or  slyly  opposed ;  but  their  preacher  contin- 
ued boldly  to  provoke  debate.  He  rudely  attacked, 
in  the  time  of  our  altar  exercises,  one  of  our  local 
preachers. 

When  I  was  informed  of  it  I  went  straight  to  him, 
and  told  him  he  must  not  do  so.  He  said  he  was  a 
free  man,  and  would  do  as  he  pleased.  "Now,"  said 
I,  "Mr.  S.,  if  you  do  not  desist,  and  behave  yourself 
like  a  decent  man  ought  to  do,  I  will  have  you  ar- 
rested as  a  disturber  of  our  religious  order." 

IJ  e  said  that  all  this  work  was  wrong ;  that  it  was 
undue  excitement,  and  it  was  his  duty  to  oppose  it ; 
and  he  would  like  to  attack  it  at  headquarters,  and 
just  then  and  there  to  debate  the  question  with  me. 

"Now,  sir,"  said  I,  "if  you  think  to  provoke  me  to 
condescend  to  turn  aside  from  carrying  on  this  glo- 
rious work  to  debate  with  you,  the  evil  spirit  that 
prompts  you  does  but  deceive  you ;  for  it  seems  to  me 
it  would  be  like  loading  a  fifty-six  to  kill  a  fly ;  and 
if  you  do  n't  like  the  work  and  our  meetings,  go  away 
and  stay  away ;  your  room  will  be  better  than  your 
company." 

I  nonplused  him  considerably,  and  measurably 
silenced  his  batteries,  but  he  was  very  restive.  At 
length  the  power  of  God  arrested  some  of  the  mem- 
bers of  his  Church.  A  very  fine  and  meek  woman 
in  their  Church,  who  had  been  baptized  for  the  re- 
mission of  sins,  but  never  felt  any  evidence  of  her 
acceptance  with  God,  and  was  not  satisfied  with  her 
condition,  became  very  much  affected,  and  wept  bit- 


iO^  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

terly  on  account  of  her  unconverted  state.  1  went  to 
her,  at  the  request  of  her  husband,  who,  though  not 
at  that  time  a  professor  of  religion,  had  been  raised  by 
Methodist  parents,  and  was  friendly.  I  asked  her  if 
she  was  happy. 

She  said,  "No,  far  from  it." 

I  asked  her  if  she  was  willing  to  go  and  kneel  at 
,,he  altar,  ask  God  to  bless  her,  and  give  her  a  sensible 
vidence  of  the  pardon  of  her  sins. 

She  said,  "Yes." 

I  started  to  lead  her  to  the  altar,  when  one  of  hex 
Campbellite  sisters  took  hold  of  her,  and  said,  "  What 
are  you  going  to  do  ?" 

She  said,  "I  am  going  to  the  altar,  to  pray  for  re- 
ligion." 

"0,"  said  the  other,  "you  have  religion.  You 
were  baptized,  and  in  that  act  of  obedience  your  sins 
were  all  washed  away;  and  you  ought  to  be  satisfied 
with  your  religion,  and  not  disgrace  your  Church 
by  going  to  a  mourners'  bench,  among  the  deluded 
Methodists." 

She  replied,  "I  know  I  was  baptized  for  the  re- 
mission of  sins,  and  you  all  told  me  that  in  this  act 
of  obedience  to  Christ  I  should  be  forgiven,  and  be 
made  happy;  but  I  know  it  is  all  deception,  and 
false,  for  I  know  I  have  no  religion ;  and  I  am  determ- 
ined to  seek  it  with  these  Methodists,  for  if  I  die  as  I 
am  I  must  be  lost  forever." 

"0,"   said   the  Campbellite   lady,  "you  must  not 

g°-" 

I  then  interposed,  and  said  to  the  lady,  "Let  her 

go.  She  shall  go  to  the  altar  if  she  wants  to;"  and  1 
accordingly  led  her  there.  She  dropped  on  her  knees, 
and  shortly  afterward  her  husband  kneeled  at  the 
same  altar,  with  the  great  deep  of  his  heart  broken 


PFTER   CARTWRIQHT.  403 

no ;  and  they  never  rested  till  they  were  both  soundly 
converted  to  God,  and  were  enabled  to  sing, 

"How  happy  are  they,  who  their  Savior  obey," 

with  a  zest  which  they  had  never  felt  or  enjoyed  before. 

The  T-ork  of  God  went  on  with  great  power,  and 
the  slain  of  the  Lord  were  many.  Presently,  in  going 
through  the  congregation  to  hunt  up  the  wounded 
sinners  and  lead  them  to  the  altar,  to  my  great  aston- 
ishment and  surprise  I  found  my  Campbellite  lady, 
who  tried  to  prevent  the  one  I  had  led  to  the  altar 
first,  sitting  down  with  her  face  in  her  hands,  and  her 
eyes  suffused  in  tears.  She  was  much  agitated.  I 
laid  my  hand  on  her  shoulder,  and  said  to  her,  "  Sis- 
ter, what  is  the  matter?  Have  these  deluded  Meth- 
odists got  hold  of  you?  or  ha^e  you  got  a  Methodist 
spasm?" 

She  screamed  right  out,  and  said,  "  God  be  merci- 
ful to  me,  a  poor,  deluded,  Campbellite  sinner !" 

"0,"  said  I,  "will  not  water  save  you?" 
•  "  O,  no,  no,"  she  responded;  "  I  am  a  poo*\  deluded 
sinner,  and  have  no  religion,  and  if  I  die  as  I  am 
must  be  lost,  and  lost  forever.     Will  you  pray  for  me  ?" 

"Yes,"  said  I ;  "but  now  you  must  go  to  the  Meth- 
odists' despised  mourners'  bench." 

"With  all  my  heart,"  said  she;  and  I  partly  led 
and  partly  carried  her  there,  and  if  I  ever  heard  a 
poor  sinner  plead  with  God  for  mercy,  she  was  one. 

When  it  was  known  that  Mrs. ,  a  Campbellite, 

was  at  the  mourners'  bench,  it  awfully  shocked  some 
of  her  fellow-members  in  that  watery  regiment.  She 
was  in  such  an  agony  and  such  good  earnest,  I  almost 
knew  it  would  not  be  long  till  she  found  the  blessing, 
and  while  I  was  leading  some  other  convicted  per- 
Bons  to  the  altar,  the  Lord  powerfully  converted  this 


404  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   Of 

Campbellite  heroine.  She  sprang  to  her  feet,  and 
shouted  over  the  house  like  a  top,  and  she  fell  direct- 
ly to  pulling  and  hauling  her  Campbellite  friends  to 
the  Methodist  altar,  exhorting  them  to  come  and  get 
religion,  and  not  for  a  moment  longer  to  depend  on 
water  for  salvation,  but  come  and  try  the  Methodist 
fire,  or  the  fire  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  the  way  she 
piled  up  the  Campbellite  friends  at  the  altar  was  sub- 
limely awful.  After  she  had  got  a  great  number 
there,  she  took  after  her  preacher,  and  exhorted  him 
to  come  and  get  religion,  "for,"  said  she,  "I  know 
you  have  none,"  but  he  resisted  and  fled.  Several 
of  his  members'  children  had  obtained  religion,  and 
several  more  were  seeking  it.  He  then  started  a 
meeting  in  his  own  church  to  draw  off  his  members 
and  others  from  the  Methodist  meeting,  and  if  ever 
you  saw  a  water  divinity  grow  sick  and  pale,  it  was 
just  about  this  time.  Things  were  so  cold  at  his 
church  that  the  little  effort  soon  failed.  There  were 
over  one  hundred  and  twenty  professed  religion  and 
joined  the  Methodist  Church  during  this  meeting, 
and,  according  to  my  best  recollection,  thirteen  of 
them  were  Campbellites. 

And  now  let  me  say,  my  little  experience  and  ob- 
servation for  many  years  goes  to  establish  the  follow- 
ing fact:  Whenever  and  wherever  the  ministry  and 
membership  of  the  Church  live  faithful,  and  keep 
alive  to  God,  and  enjoy  the  life  and  power  of  religion, 
they  can  bid  an  eternal  defiance  to  all  opposition, 
schism,  divisions,  ceremonial  diversities,  and  all  the 
false  prophets  that  may  arise  can  never  stop,  to  any 
great  extent,  the  heavenly  march  and  triumphs  of 
true  religion ;  but  when  we  have  a  formal,  negligent 
ministry,  that  •  wish  to  substitute  education  for  the 
power  of  faith,  and  our  members  begin  to  ape  the 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  405 

world,  or  even  other  proud  and  fashionable  Churches, 
you  may. depend  upon  it  that,  like  Samson  with  his 
eyes  put  out,  we  shall  make  sport  for  the  Philistines. 
For -however  education  may  be  desirable,  and  how- 
ever much  the  progress  of  this  age  may  demand  an 
improved  ministry,  especially  an  improved  pulpit 
eloquence,  I  would  rather  have  the  gift  of  a  devil-dis- 
lodging power  than  all  the  college  lore  or  Biblical 
institute  knowledge  that  can  be  obtained  from  mortal 
man.  When  God  wants  great  and  learned  men  in 
the  ministry,  how  easy  it  is  for  him  to  overtake  a 
learned  sinner,  and,  as  Saul  of  Tarsus,  shake  him 
awhile  over  hell,  then  knock  the  scales  from  his  eyes, 
and,  without  any  previous  theological  training,  send 
him  out  straightway  to  preach  Jesus  and  the  resurrec- 
tion !  When  God  calls  any  man  to  preach  his  Gospel, 
if  he  will  not  reason  with  flesh  and  blood,  but  do  his 
duty  and  live  faithful,  my  experience  for  it,  God 
will  qualify  him  for  the  work  if  he  never  saw  a 
college. 

Perhaps  I  may  say  a  few  things  right  here  that 
may  be  of  some  -little  benefit  to  my  brethren  in  the 
ministry.  You  know  these  are  the  days  of  sore 
throats  and  bronchial  affections  among  preachers. 
Some  have  laid  the  predisposing  cause  to  coffee,  and 
some  to  tobacco;  some  to  one  thing,  and  some  to  an- 
other. Now,  without  professing  to  have  studied 
physiology,  or  to  be  skilled  in  the  science  of  medi- 
cine, I  beg  leave,  with  very  humble  pretensions,  to 
give  it  as  my  opinion  that  most  cases  of  these  diseases 
are  brought  on  by  carelessness  and  inattention  of 
public  speakers  themselves.  I  had,  for  several  years 
previous  to  this  great  revival  of  which  we  have  been 
speaking,  been  greatly  afflicted  with  the  bronchial 
affection;  so  much  so  that  I  really  thought  the  days 


406  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

of  my  public  ministry  were  well-nigh  over.  This 
revival  lasted  near  five  months,  through  a  hard  and 
cold  winter.  I  preached,  exhorted,  sung,  prayed, 
and  labored  at  the  altar,  I  need  not  say  several  times 
a  day  or  night,  but  almost  day  and  night  for  months 
together.  With  many  fears  I  entered  on  this  work, 
but  from  the  beginning  I  threw  myself  under  restraint, 
took  time  to  respire  freely  between  sentences,  com- 
manded the  modulation  and  cadence  of  my  voice, 
avoided  singing  to  fatigue,  avoided  sudden  transitions 
from  heat  to  cold,  and  when  I  left  the  atmosphere  of 
the  church,  heated  by  the  stoves  and  breath  of  the 
crowd,  guarded  rny  breast  and  throat,  and  even 
mouth,  from  a  sudden  and  direct  contact  with  the 
chilling  air,  or  air  of  any  kind,  got  to  my  room  as 
quick  as  possible,  slept  in  no  cold  rooms  if  I  could 
help  it,  bathed  my  throat  and  breast  every  morning 
with  fresh,  cold  water  from  the  well  or  spring,  wore 
no  tight  stocks  or  cravats,  breathed  freely,  and,  strange 
to  tell,  I  came  out  of  the  five  months'  campaign  of  a 
revival  much  sounder  than  when  I  entered  it.  The 
only  medicine  I  used  at  all  was  a  little  cayenne  pep- 
per and  table  salt  dissolved  in  cold  vinegar,  and  this 
just  as  I  was  leaving  a  warm  atmosphere  to  go  into 
the  cold  air  or  wind;  and  although  several  years 
have  passed  since,  I  have  been  very  little  troubled 
with  that  disease,  and  can  preach  as  long  and  as  loud 
as  is  necessary  for  any  minister  to  be  useful.  Keep 
your  feet  warm,  your  head  cool,  and  Tour  bowels 
well  regulated,  rise  early,  go  to  bed  regularly,  eat 
temperately,  avoiding  high-seasoned  victuals,  pickles, 
and  preserves,  drink  no  spirits  of  any  kind,  and  thcro 
will  be  no  need  of  your  ever  breaking  down  till  the 
wheels  of  life  stop,  and  life  itself  sweetly  ebbs  away. 
Our  conference  this  year  1843,  was  heid  in  Quincy, 


PETER   CARTWRIQHT.  407 

Adams,  county,  Illinois,  September  13th.  Bishop  An- 
Irew  presided.  This  was  the  only  annual  confer- 
ence that  Bishop  Andrew  ever  presided  in  with  us. 
The  Dlinois  conference  was  now  large,  and  there  were 
Borne  men  of  fine  Ulents  among  us.  Bishop  Andrew 
presided  \\ith  great  acceptability,  and  had,  among  our 
preachers,  many  fast  friends.  At  this  conference 
we  elected  our  delegates  to  the  ninth  delegated  Gen- 
eral conference,  that  was  to  sit  in  New  York,  May 
1,  1844.  P.  Akers,  J.  Vancleve,  J.  Stamper,  N.  G. 
Berry  man,  and  myself  were  elected,  which  made  the 
eighth  General  conference  that  the  brethren  saw 
proper  to  send  me  to,  to  represent  their  interests  and 
the  interests  of  the  Church  generally.  Up  to  this 
General  conference  there  were  thirty-three  annual 
conferences,  besides  Liberia.  Seventeen  in  the  old 
eastern  boundary,  and  sixteen  in  the  western  division. 
The  seventeen  eastern  conferences  had  a  membership 
of  599,322;  of  traveling  preachers,  2,400.  The 
sixteen  conferences  in  the  western  division  had  of 
members,  550,462;  of  traveling  preachers,  1,862. 
Total  membership  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
1,172,356 ;  total  traveling  preachers,  4,282 ;  total  in- 
crease in  members  in  four  years,  276,287 ;  of  travel- 
ing preachers  in  four  years,  774. 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  foregoing  statistics,  imper- 
fect as  they  are,  that  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
as  one*  branch  of  the  great  Protestant  family,  pros- 
pered in  these  United  States  without  a  parallel  in  the 
history  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ,  since  the  apos- 
tolic age.  Only  think  of  it;  in  despite  of  all  the  imper- 
fections th.it  attach  to  human  institutions,  the  apostasy 
of  some  of  our  ministers — and  it  is  a  mercy  of  God 
there  were  not  more — the  backsliding  of  many  of  our 
members,  the  schisms  created  by  O'Kelly,  Hammett, 


408  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

Stillwell,  and  the  self-styled  Protestant  Methodists,  the 
True  Wesleyaris — hush!  0,  mercy,  save  the  mark! — 
in  about  sixty  years,  more  than  a  million  of  members 
had  been  raised  up  and  united  in  Church  fellowship 
in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church;  and  this,  too,  by 
a  body  of  uneducated  ministers.  Perhaps,  among 
the  thousands  of  traveling  and  local  preachers  em- 
ployed and  engaged  in  this  glorious  work  of  saving 
souls,  and  building  up  the  Methodist  Church,  there 
were  not  fifty  men  that  had  any  thing  more  than  a 
common  English  education,  and  scores  of  them  not 
that;  and  not  one  of  them  was  ever  trained  in  a  theo- 
logical school  or  Biblical  institute,  and  yet  hundreds 
of  them  preached  the  Gospel  with  more  success  and 
had  more  seals  to  their  ministry  than  all  the  sapient, 
downy  D.  D.'s  in  modern  times,  who,  instead  of 
entering  the  great  and  wide-spread  harvest-field  of 
souls,  sickle  in  hand,  are  seeking  presidencies  or  pro- 
fessorships in  colleges,  editorships,  or  any  agencies 
that  have  a  fat  salary,  and  are  trying  to  create  new- 
fangled institutions  where  good  livings  can  be  monop- 
olized, while  millions  of  poor,  dying  sinners  are 
thronging  the  way  to  hell  without  God,  without  Gos- 
pel ;  and  the  Church  putting  up  the  piteous  wail  about 
the  scarcity  of  preachers.  And  now,  in  the  even- 
ing of  life,  at  the  dreadful  risk — dreadful  to  some,  not 
to  me — of  being  called  an  old  fogy,  and  pronounced 
fifty  years  behind  the  times,  I  enter  my  most  solemn 
protest  against  the  tendencies  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  to  Congregationalism,  for  it  seems  to 
me  wrong  that  the  ministers  of  God,  divinely  called 
to  the  holy  work  of  saving  souls,  should  leave  that 
sacred  work,  and  go  and  serve  tables;  wherefore,  let 
the  Church  look  out  competent  and  well-qualified 
lay  teachers  and  officers  for  our  literary  institutions, 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  409 

who  can  build  them  up  just  as  well  as  preachers,  and 
make  "a  scourge  of  small  cords,"  and  drive  these 
buyers  and  sellers  out  of  the  temples  of  learning,  editor- 
ships, and  agencies,  into  the  glorious  harvest-field  of 
souls.  No  man,  or  set  of  men,  in  the  same  sacred 
sense,  is  called  of  God  to  these  institutions  and  offices, 
as  they  are  called  of  God — if  called  at  all — to  preach 
the  everlasting  Gospel  to  dying  sinners  that  are  so 
fearfully  thronging  the  way  to  hell.  Christ  had  no 
literary  college  or  university,  no  theological  school 
or  Biblical  institute,  nor  did  he  require  his  first  min- 
isters to  memorize  his  sayings  or  sermons,  but  simply 
to  tarry  at  Jerusalem  till  they  were  endued  with 
power  from  on  high,  when,  under  the  baptismal  pow- 
er of  the  Holy  Ghost,  should  be  brought  to  their 
remembrance  all  things  whatsoever  he  had  com- 
manded them. 

I  will  not  condescend  to  stop  and  say  that  I  am  a 
friend  to  learning,  and  an  improved  ministry,  for  it  is 
the  most  convenient  way  to  get  rid  of  a  stubborn 
truth,  for  these  learned  and  gentlemanly  ministers 
to  turn  about  and  say  that  all  those  ministers  that  are 
opposed  to  the  present  abuses  of  our  high  calling,  are 
advocates  for  ignorance,  and  that  ignorance  is  the 
mother  of  devotion.  What  has  a  learned  ministry 
done  for  the  world,  that  have  studied  divinity  as  a 
science?  Look,  and  examine  ministerial  history.  It 
is  an  easy  thing  to  engender  pride  in  the  human  heart, 
and  this  educational  pride  has  been  the  downfall  and 
ruin  of  many  pre-eminently  educated  ministers  of  the 
Gospel.  But  I  will  not  render  evil  for  evil,  or  railing 
for  railing,  but  will  thank  God  for  education,  and 
educated  Gospel  ministers  who  are  of  the  right  stamp, 
and  of  the  right  spirit.  But  how  do  these  advocates 
for  an  educated  ministry  think  the  hundreds  of  com- 


410  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

monly- educated  preachers  must  feel  under  the  lectures 
we  have  from  time  to  time  on  this  suhject?  It  is  true 
many  of  these  advocates  for  an  improved  and  educa- 
ted ministry  among  us,  speak  in  rapturous  and  exalt- 
ed strains  concerning  the  old,  illiterate  pioneers  that 
planted  Methodism  and  Churches  in  early  arid  frontier 
times;  hut  I  take  no  flattering  unction  to  my  soul 
from  these  extorted  concessions  from  these  velvet- 
mouthed  and  downy  D.  D.'s;  for  their  real  sentiments, 
if  they  clearly  express  them,  are,  that  we  were  in- 
debted to  the  ignorance  of  the  people  for  our  success. 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  411 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

TEE    GREAT    SECESSION. 

AT  the  General  conference  of  1844  a  solemn  dis- 
pensation came  upon  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
then  having  more  than  a  million  of  members  in  her 
communion.  Up  to  this  time  no  very  destructive 
divisions  had  taken  place  among  us.  The  small  parties 
that  had  filed  off,  had  rather  been  a  help  than  a 
serious  injury  to  the  Church.  No  division  in  doc- 
trines had  ever  taken  place,  and,  as  a  large  body  of 
ministers  and  members,  there  was  great  unanimity 
on  the  Discipline  of  the  Church;  and  now  the  division 
was  narrowed  down  to  a  single  point,  namely,  slavery 
in  the  episcopacy.  It  is  well  understood  by  those 
who  have  studied  the  government  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  that  she  has  adopted  an  itinerant 
or  traveling  plan  of  ministerial  operation,  as  the  best 
and  most  Scriptural  mode  of  successfully  spreading 
the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ;  and  although  we  believe 
there  are  but  two  ministerial  orders,  namely,  deacons 
and  elders,  and  finding  nothing  in  the  Scriptures 
contrary  thereto,  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in 
her  early  organization  saw  proper  to  create  a  separate 
office,  not  order,  of  superintendent,  or  bishop.  By  the 
consent  of  all  our  traveling  preachers,  the  bishop  ap- 
points from  year  to  year  every  traveling  preacher  to 
his  field  of  labor;  this  saves  a  vast  amount  of  time 
and  trouble  in  the  ministry,  in  running  about  and 
seeking  to  contract  with  congregations  for  a  specified 


412  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

time  and  stipulated  amount  of  salary;  moreover,  it 
cuts  off  the  temptation  of  selling  the  Gospel  to  the 
highest  bidder,  and  giving  the  Gospel  exclusively  to  the 
rich,  and  leaving  the  poor  to  perish  without  the  means 
of  salvation ;  and  the  poor  under  this  arrangement  find 
the  fulfillment  of  the  promise  of  Jesus  Christ,  more 
fully  than  they  can  on  any  other  plan,  namely, 
"Blessed  are  the  poor,  for  they  have  the  Gospel 
preached  unto  them."  Moreover,  it  is  the  disciplinary 
duty  of  our  bishops  to*  ordain  our  deacons  and 
elders,  and  to  travel  at  large  throughout  all  our 
conferences,  and  to  have  a  general  supervision  of  the 
whole  work;  and  in  order  to  qualify  them  to  act 
wisely  and  prudently  in  changing  and  appointing 
the  thousands  of  itinerant  preachers  to  their  respect- 
ive fields  of  labor,  it  is  required  of  our  bishops  to  be 
constant  itinerants  themselves;  and  according  to  the 
provisions  of  the  Discipline  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church,  if  our  bishops  at  any  time  cease  to  travel 
at  large  throughout  the  connection,  supervising  and 
superintending  the  general  interests  of  the  whole 
Church,  they  shall  forfeit  the  right  to  exercise  the 
duties  of  their  office. 

And  right  here  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  notice,  in  a 
few  words,  the  supremely-ridiculous  and  slanderous 
statements  that  are  constantly  emanating  from  the 
pulpits  and  presses  of  some  of  the  prejudiced  denomi- 
nations, against  the  absolute  and  despotic  power  of  our 
bishops.  They  state  that  our  bishops  give  all  the  law 
of  the  Church,  and  that  our  preachers  and  people  are 
bound  to  bow  to  their  dictum,  under  pain  of  expul- 
sion ;  and  that  all  the  Church  property  is  deeded  to 
the  bishops  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Now, 
so  far  from  this  charge  being  true,  I  assert,  witnout 
any  fear  of  successful  contradiction,  that  a  Methodist 


PETER    CARTWRTQHT  418 

bishop  has  not  even  a  vote  in  any  of  the  rules  or 
regulations  of  the  Church,  nor  even  a  veto  power  on 
any  rule  passed  by  the  General  conference;  and  as 
for  the  charge  of  the  bishops  having  all  the  property 
of  the  Church  deeded  to  them,  this  old,  stale  falsehood 
has  not  now,  nor  ever  had,  the  least  foundation  in 
truth  to  rest  upon ;  for  I  will  venture  to  say  that  if 
the  whole  United  States  and  territories  were  examined 
with  a  search  warrant  by  the  entire  marshaled  hosts 
of  the  bigoted  and  malicious  propagators  of  these 
falsehoods,  that  not  one  solitary  case  can  be  found 
where  the  Church  property  is  deeded  to  the  bishops 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Why  do  our 
opponents  so  constantly  and  so  recklessly  persist  in 
reiterating  these  false  charges?  Have  they  no  sense 
of  honor  or  of  shame  left  them?  But  none  are  so 
blind  as  those  that  will  not  see;  and  I  solemnly  fear 
that  those  wretched  editors  and  pamphlet  writers  will 
have  a  very  fearful  account  to  render  in  the  day  of 
retributive  justice.  But  they  can  not  meet  us  in  the 
open  field  of  manly  and  honorable  debate,  and  there- 
fore they  resort  to  the  pitiful  fabrication  of  false 
statements  in  hope  of  gulling  the  ignorant  part  of 
mankind. 

We  have  said,  up  to  this  time,  1844,  no  very  seri- 
ous division  had  taken  place  in  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church.  It  is  true,  there  were  a  few  restless 
spirits,  ministers,  that  had  filed  off  and  raised  little 
trash-traps  called  Churches,  such  as  O'Kelly,  Still- 
well,  Hammett,  the  Radicals,  or  self-styled  Protestant 
Methodist  Church,  and  the  Scottites,  or,  as  they  call 
themselves,  the  True  Wesleyans.  But  in  all  these 
secessions,  there  never  had  been  a  difference  of  opinion 
on  the  cardinal  doctrines  of  the  Gospel  propagated 
by  Mr.  Wesley,  and  unanswerably  defended  by  the 


414  AUTOBIOGRAPHY     OF 

sainted  Fletcher.  So  may  it  continue  to  the  end  of 
time! 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  from  its  first  or- 
ganization, was  opposed  to  slavery;  and  from  1784  to 
1824,  in  her  various  rules  and  regulations  on  slavery, 
tried  to  legislate  it  out  of  the  Church;  and  she  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  many  of  the  slaves  set  free,  and 
bettering  the  condition  of  thousands  of  this  degraded 
race.  But  the  legislatures  of  the  different  slave  states 
greatly  embarrassed  the  operations  of  the  Church  by 
narrowing  the  door  of  emancipation,  and  passing  un- 
jUSt  and  stringent  laws  to  prevent  manumission.  At 
this  course  of  legislation,  many  of  the  citizens  of  the 
free  states  took  umbrage,  and  commenced  a  dreadful 
tirade  of  abuse  on  the  South,  and  threw  the  subject 
into  the  arena  of  politics.  This  unholy  warfare  of 
crimination  and  recrimination  has  been  carried  on 
with  unjustifiable  violence,  till  we  are  almost  brought 
to  a  civil  war,  and  the  integrity  of  our  happy  Union  is 
in  imminent  danger.  How  it  will  end  God  only  knows. 

On  the  first  of  May,  1844,  our  General  conference 
met  in  New  York.  From  1824  to  this  time,  our  rules 
on  slavery  had  remained  the  same.  The  northern 
preachers  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  some 
of  them,  had  taken  the  ultra  ground  that  slavehold- 
ing,  under  all  circumstances,  was  sinful,  and  therefore, 
law  or  no  law,  practicable  or  impracticable,  all  slave- 
holders, under  all  circumstances,  should  be  expelled. 
However,  the  more  prudent  and  far-seeing  part  of  our 
ministers  and  members  of  the  Church  saw  that  this 
was  totally  wrong,  and  threw  themselves  into  the 
breach,  and  prevented  a  fearful  division  of  the  Church ; 
and  the  fog  and  smoke  of  run-mad  clerical  abolition- 
ism ended  in  a  feeble  secession  under  0.  Scott  &  Co., 
and  a  few  of  the  same  cloth  and  kidney. 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  415 

In  the  mean  time  slavery  in  the  south  had  been 
rapidly  gaining  strength,  by  stringent  legislative  acts 
and  ministerial  advocacy.  More  and  more  did  the 
legislatures  of  the  south  block  up  the  way  to  practi- 
cable emancipation.  This  threw  the  north  into  a 
fearful  rage;  hence  there  was  a  mutual  crimination 
and  recrimination,  and  both  ultra  parties  threw  the 
subject  into  the  political  arena,  and  appealed  to  Caesar 
instead  of  going  to  God  in  humble  prayer,  and  asking 
Divine  direction  on  this  fearful  question.  There  had 
at  no  time  been  a  shareholding  preacher  elected 
to  the  office  of  bishop  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  nor  was  there  ever  a  time  within  my  remem- 
brance when  a  slaveholder,  as  such,  could  have  been 
elected  bishop  without  giving  strong  assurances  that 
he  would  emancipate  his  slaves;  for  the  plain  reason, 
to  say  nothing  about  the  evil  of  slavery,  he  never 
could  travel  at  large  through  the  connection,  as  the 
Discipline  required,  acceptably,  as  a  slaveholder. 
There  were  many  eminent  and  distinguished  minis- 
ters in  the  southern  conferences,  some  of  whoro 
would,  no  doubt,  have  been  elected  to  the  office  of 
bishop  but  for  their  being  slaveholders.  Bishop  An- 
drew had  been  elected  to  that  office  in  1882,  by  the 
General  conference,  but  it  was  because  we  verily 
believed  him  free  from  the  evil  of  slavery;  and  but 
for  the  same  cause  of  slavery,  I  have  no  doubt  others 
of  our  Southern  ministers  would  have  been  elected  t<t 
that  office.  When  we  met  in  General  conference  in 
New  York,  Bishop  Andrew,  by  marriage  and  other- 
wise, had  become  connected  with  slavery.  This  fact 
came  upon  us  with  the  darkness  and  terror  of  a  fear- 
ful storm,  and  covered  the  whole  General  conference 
with  sorrow  and  mourning.  Those  of  us  who  believed 
slavery  an  evil,  though  not  sinful  in  all  cases,  saw  at 


416  AtJtOBlOGRAPtJY    OF 

once  that  it  was  utterly  impossible  for  Bishop  Andrew 
to  travel  at  large  through  the  Methodist  connection, 
aud  discharge  the  important  duties  of  that  office  with 
acceptability  and  usefulness,  unless  he  would  give  the 
General  conference  assurances  that  he  would,  as  soon 
s  practicable,  free  himself  from  this  impediment. 
But  this  he  absolutely  refused  to  do.  Our  Southern 
brethren  took  the  strong  ground  that  slavery  was  no 
impediment  to  the  official  relation  of  a  bishop  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

The  true  course  that  the  General  conference  ought 
to  have  pursued  toward  Bishop  Andrew,  was  to  have 
arraigned  him  for  improper  conduct,  as  the  Discipline 
provides  for  the  trial  of  a  bishop,  and  suspended  him 
from  all  official  acts;  and  then,  if  they  of  the  south 
were  disposed  to  secede,  let  them  secede  and  set  up 
for  themselves.  Then  all  the  humbuggery  about  a 
division  line,  and  of  the  Church  property,  would  have 
been  saved.  And  if  the  division  or  secession  of  the 
Church  had  been  left  to  the  vote  of  our  Southern 
brethren,  it  would  have  been  a  poor  little  thing;  and 
I  think  that  every  unprejudiced  mind  must  see  clearly 
that  the  secession  from  our  beloved  Church  was 
brought  about  by  a  set  of  slaveholding  Methodist 
preachers,  and  not  by  slaveholding  members,  led  on 
by  a  slaveholding  bishop ;  and  every  one  acquainted 
with  the  circumstances  of  this  dreadful  rupture  in  the 
Church,  and  with  the  actions  and  course  of  Bishop 
Soule,  will  see  that  he  was  the  leading  spirit  in  the 
whole  affair. 

However  I  may  forgive,  I  shall  never  forget  the  un- 
justifiable course  that  Bishop  Soule  took  in  dividing 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

To  talk  about  the  General  conference  having  power 
to  divide  the  Church  and  to  form  a  division  line,  that 


PETKR    CARTWRIGHT.  417 

the  ministers  from  either  side  should  not  cross  to  bear 
the  tidings  of  salvation  to  their  dying  fellow-men,  is 
certainly  the  climax  of  absurdity;  and  then  to  force 
the  members  on  either  side  of  this  line,  north  or  south, 
to  hold  their  membership  in  a  division  that  was  not 
of  their  choice,  is  despotism  in  the  superlative  degree. 
Could  the  Pope  of  Rome  more  completely  demand 
passive  obedience  and  non-resistance  than  did  the  Gen- 
eral conference  of  1844  in  this  monstrous  act?  And 
yet  the  very  ministers  composing  the  General  confer- 
ence who,  in  conjunction  with  their  fellow-laborers  in 
the  ministry,  had  praised  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  as  the  best  Church  in  the  world,  and  had 
taken  an  active  part  in  taking  into  said  Church  the 
hundreds  of  thousands  that  composed  her  member 
ship,  assumed  to  themselves  the  power  to  divide  said 
Church,  and  draw  a  line,  and  say  to  preachers  and 
members,  "  Thus  far  shalt  thou  come,  and  no  further." 

I  sincerely  thank  God,  upon  every  remembrance  of 
the  acts  or  doings  of  the  General  conference  of  1844 
on  this  matter,  that  my  little  abilities  were  put  forth 
to  prevent  this  catastrophe,  though  I  was  found  greatly 
in  the  minority.  Yet,  I  am  glad  to  say,  it  was  an 
honorable  minority,  which,  by  the  whining  sycophancy 
of  the  south,  and  uncalled-for  sympathy  of  the  north, 
were  overwhelmed  by  the  vote  of  the  majority. 

I  say  here  again,  as  I  have  elsewhere  said  in  this 
narrative,  that  the  General  conference  of  1844,  a'nd 
all  the  General  conferences  that  ever  existed,  had  no 
more  power  to  divide  the  Church  than  I,  as  an  indi- 
vidual, had;  and  it  is  my  deliberate  opinion  that  the 
members  of  the  General  conference  who  concocted 
and  completed  this  measure  of  so-called  division  of 
the  Church,  ought  to  refund  the  whole  amount  of 
money  gained  by  the  south  in  the  Church  suits,  and 
27 


418  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

let  the  poor,  superannuated  preachers,  tlieir  wives 
and  children,  and  the  widows  and  orphans  of  our 
ministers  that  have  been  left  nearly  destitute  of  the 
means  of  living  since  the  death  of  their  faithful  hiih,- 
Imnds  and  fathers,  have  it  as  a  fund  for  their  support. 
It  is  as  clear  to  me  as  a  sunbeam  that  the  General 
conference  had  no  constitutional  right  to  form  this 
sham  line  of  division  that  they  did,  and  thereby  force 
thousands  of  our  pious  and  devoted  members  south 
of  that  line  to  take  their  membership  in  an  openly- 
avowed  slaveholding  Church,  or  remain  forever  with- 
out Church  privileges ;  and  when  the  piteous  wail- 
ings  of  these  forsaken  members,  thus  cut  off  from 
the  Church  of  their  early  and  only  choice,  came  up 
for  four  years,  is  it  any  wonder  that  the  General  con- 
ference of  1848,  that  sat  in  Pittsburg,  should  vir- 
tually declare  the  action  of  the  General  conference 
of  1844  unconstitutional,  and  declare  that  line  null 
and  void,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  and  once  more 
authorize  our  preachers  to  go,  without  limitation  or 
restriction,  "  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  Gospel 
to  every  creature."  Now,  although  this  is  not  to  be 
wondered  at,  when  we  consider  the  sympathetic,  re- 
ligious appeals  made  to  that  body  from  our  lost  mem- 
bers in  the  dreadful  wilderness  of  slave  territory,  still 
there  is  a  wonderful  and  marvelous  thing  that  con- 
founds all  my  sense  of  justice,  truth,  and  righteousness, 
Btill  existing  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church;  that 
is,  that  there  are  to  be  found  members,  preachers,  and 
editors  of  our  Church  papers,  that,  with  run-mad 
violence,  oppose  the  reorganization  of  conferences  in 
slave  territory,  and  are  unwilling  to  send  or  support 
our  preachers  that  are  sent  to  preach  the  Gospel  of 
the  Son  of  God  to  these  misguided  and  blind  slave- 
holders, or  to  the  poor,  degraded,  ignorant  ihou.so.nds 


PETER    CARTWRIQHT.  419 

of  slaves  that  have  souls  to  be  saved  or  lost  ibrever. 
I  am  fully  aware  that  here  I  tread  controverted, 
enchanted,  and  disputed  ground;  but,  perhaps,  as 
this  may  be  the  last  opportunity  that  I  may  have  thia 
side  the  grave  to  be  heard  on  this  subject,  I  beseech 
my  readers,  whether  they  agree  or  disagree  with  me 
in  my  sentiments  on  this  vexed  question  of  slavery, 
to  hear  me  for  a  few  moments  without  "malice  pre- 
pense" or  aforethought,  as  to  the  history  of  the  rup- 
ture in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  at  the  General 
conference  of  1844.  I  beg  leave  to  refer  all  con- 
cerned in  this  matter  to  the  most  excellent  History 
of  the  Great  Secession,  published  by  Dr.  C.  Elliott;  a 
book  which,  large  as  it  is,  ought  to  have  a  place  in 
every  library  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  If 
they  will  get  this  book,  and  turn  to  chapters  xx,  xxi, 
pages  286-318,  they  will  find  all  the  facts  concerning 
the  acts  and  doings  of  the  General  conference  of  1844, 
detailed  with  an  impartial  and  truthful  particularity 
worthy  of  all  commendation ;  and,  indeed,  the  book 
throughout  is  a  valuable  work,  and  should  be  in  the 
hands  of  every  preacher  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church. 

I  wish  to  say  here,  I  was  born  and  raised  in  a  slave 
state,  or  states,  and  for  more  than  sixty  years  have 
been  acquainted  with  the  sentiments  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  preachers  and  members,  on  the 
subject  of  slavery.  I  have  seen  thousands  of  poor 
Blaves  converted  to  God;  I  have,  I  verily  believe, 
also  seen  thousands  of  slaveholders  soundly  converted 
to  God,  whose  fruit  in  after  life  gave  ample  evidence 
of  the  genuineness  of  their  religion;  and  since  I 
foave  had  a  mature  judgment  on  the  subject  of  slav- 
ery, I  have  steadfastly  believed  it  a  great  evil;  and 
without  boasting  I  will  say,  I  have  been  the  agent 


420  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

or  instrument  of  freeing  scores  of  the  poor  slaves,  and 
not  only  of  their  emancipation,  but  also  of  the  colorii/a 
tion  of  many  of  them,  returning  them  to  their  own  coun- 
try free  and  happy.  But  this  all  took  place  before 
the  legislatures  of  the  slave  states  blocked  up  the  way, 
by  stringent  laws,  to  practicable  emancipation.  These 
stringent  laAvs  of  the  legislatures  of  slave  states  were 
passed  chiefly  from  two  causes :  first,  their  inherent 
love  of  oppression ;  and,  second,  from  the  extreme  and 
violent  manner  of  intermeddling  with  the  legal  rights 
of  the  slaveholders  in  the  south  by  the  rabid  abolition- 
ists of  the  north.  And  now,  I  would  soberly  ask,  What 
lias  all  this  violent  hue  and  cry  of  prescriptive  aboli- 
tionism done  for  the  emancipation  of  the  poor  de- 
graded slaves?  Just  nothing  at  all;  nay,  infinitely 
worse  than  nothing.  It  has  riveted  the  chains  of 
slavery  tighter  than  ever  before;  it  has  blocked  up 
the  way  to  reasonable  and  practicable  emancipation; 
it  has  engendered  prejudice;  it  has  thrown  firebrands 
into  legislative  halls,  both  of  the  state  and  general  gov- 
ernments ;  millions  arc  expended  every  year  in  angry 
debates;  laws  for  the  good  of  the  people  are  neglect- 
ed; time,  talents,  and  money  thrown  away;  preju- 
dice, strife,  and  wrath,  and  every  evil  passion  stirred 
up  till  the  integrity  of  the  union  of  our  happy  coun- 
try is  in  imminent  danger;  and  what  has  it  all 
amounted  to?  Not  one  poor  slave  set  free;  not  ore 
dollar  expended  to  colonize  them  and  send  them 
home  happy  and  free;  and  such  is  the  unchristian, 
excited  prejudice,  that  mobs  are  fast  becoming  the 
order  of  the  day.  Presses  demolished;  preachers  of 
the  Gospel,  hailing  from  free  states,  are  hunted  down 
by  blood-hounds  in  human  shape;  they  are  tarred 
and  feathered,  and  threatened  with  the  rope  if  they 
do  not  leave  in  a  few  hours ;  and  such  is  the  prejudice 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT  421 

produced  by  the  angry  and  unchristian  fulminating 
thunders  of  this  one-eyed  and  one-idead,  run-mad  pro- 
cedure, that  the  Gospel  is  well-nigh  totally  denied  in 
slave  states  to  both  owners  and  slaves  in  many 
places. 

But  I  think  I  hear  you  say,  let  slaveholding  preach 
crs  preach  to  these  slaves  and  slaveholders.  But  if 
slavery  is  a  sin  in  all  circumstances,  how  can  slave- 
holding  preachers  successfully  preach  the  Gospel  to 
these  poor  sinners  ?  Well,  say  you,  let  the  devil  take 
them  all.  0  no,  God  forbid!  there  surely  must  be  a 
better  way;  these  poor  slaves  surely  are  not  to  blame 
for  their  condition.  Are  there  no  bowels  of  mercy  to 
yearn  over  them  ?  Many  of  these  slaveholders,  from 
circumstances  beyond  their  control,  are  not  radically 
slaveholding  sinners;  above  all  men  that  dwell  in 
the  south,  they  are  entitled  to  our  pity  and  commis 
elation,  and  we  should  surely  carry  the  Gospel  to 
them,  and  our  skirts  will  not  be  clear  of  their  blood 
if  we  do  not. 

Do  we  reclaim  drunkards  by  telling  them  that  they 
steal  their  rum,  and  lie  in  the  meanest  way  of  all 
men  to  get  their  intoxicating  beverages?  No,  verily; 
we  pity  them,  reason  with  them,  and  knowing  the 
terrors  of  the  Lord,  we  persuade  men;  and  when  all 
moral  suasion  fails,  do  we  say  drunkenness  is  the 
open  door  to  all  sins,  and  therefore  it  is  the  sum  of 
all  villainies,  and  that  they  can  not  be  made  Chris- 
tians? No.  When  all  moral  suasion  fails  we  try  by 
legal  enactments  to  put  the  temptation  out  of  their 
way,  and  urge  them  to  become  Christians.  Do  we 
induce  sinners  to  reform,  repent,  and  be  converted, 
by  abusing  them,  and  telling  them  of  all  their  dirty 
deeds,  and  saying  it  is  impossible  for  persons  guilty 
of  such  dirty  crimes  to  become  Christians?  No,  we 


422  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

warn  them,  in  a  Christian  spirit  and  temper,  to  fle« 
the  wrath  to  come ;  we  assure  them  that  the  .happy 
gates  of  Gospel  grace  stand  open  night  and  day,  and 
that  Christ  will  turn  none  away  empty  that  will  come 
unto  him ;  for  whosoever  shall  call  on  the  name  of  the 
Lord  shall  be  saved.  And  we  urge  them  to  seek  the 
Lord  while  he  may  be  found,  and  call  upon  him  while 
he  is  near. 

I  blame  no  man  for  believing  that  slavery  is  wrong 
and  a  great  evil,  and  every  reasonable  man  must 
deprecate  its  existence;  and  I  know  that  there  are 
thousands  of  our  southern  slaveholding  citizens  that 
not  only  believe,  but  know  from  daily  experience,  that 
it  is  a  great  evil,  and  would  willingly  make  any  rea- 
sonable sacrifice  to  rid  themselves  and  their  happy 
country  of  it.  And  I  believe,  from  more  than  twenty 
years'  experience  as  a  traveling  preacher  in  slave 
states,  that  the  most  successful  way  to  ameliorate  the 
condition  of  the  slaves,  and  Christianize  them,  and 
finally  secure  their  freedom,  is  to  treat  their  owners 
kindly,  and  not  to  meddle  politically  with  slavery. 
Let  their  owners  see  and  know  that  your  whole  mis- 
sion is  the  salvation  of  the  slaves  as  well  as  their 
owners,  and  that  you  have  not  established  any  under- 
ground railroad,  and  that  it  is  not  your  mission  to  ab- 
duct their  slaves.  In  this  way  more  is  to  be  done  for 
the  final  extirpation  of  American  slavery  than  all 
others  put  together,  for  these  ultraists  breathe  nothing 
but  death  and  slaughter. 

I  will  further  state  that  it  is  my  firm  conviction 
that  every  Methodist  preacner  sent  as  a  missionary 
herald  to  labor  in  slave  territory,  ought  to  be  instruct 
ed  by  the  ruling  authorities  of  the  Church  not  to  mod 
die  ^ith  slavery,  but  to  attend  strictly  to  his  spiritual 
mission.  This  is  the  way  the  Wesleyan  mission  com 


1'  K  T  E  R    C  A  R  T  W  II I  G  II  T.  423 

mittee  instructed  their  missionaries  sent  to  labor  in  the 
West  Indies,  where  slavery  abounded  in  its  worst 
forms ;  and  if  those  missionaries  were  known  to  dis 
obey  those  instructions,  they  were  immediately  re- 
called ;  and  although  these  missionaries  were  tied  up 
to  the  one  grand  object  of  Christianizing  the  people, 
yet  finally  the  Gospel  leaven  so  mightily  worked, 
that  slavery  was  abolished,  and  universal  freedom 
triumphed  and  prevailed.  Let  us  hope  that  this  will 
be  the  case  with  American  slavery;  and  after  having 
expended  all  our  wrath  without  availing  any  thing 
worth  talking  about,  let  us  now  henceforth  use  Chris- 
tian Avcapons,  and  Christian  weapons  alone,  and  the 
mighty  monster  will  fall. 

I  do  solemnly  declare,  that  no  circumstance  ever 
occurred  concerning  the  welfare  of  the  Church,  which 
afflicted  me  so  sorely  as  the  transactions  of  the  General 
conference  of  1844.  It  seemed  to  me  that  I  could 
not  survive  under  the  painful  fact  that  the  Methodist 
Church  must  be  divided,  and  all  the  time  of  the  pro- 
tracted debates  I  knew,  if  the  southern  preachers  fail- 
ed to  carry  the  point  they  had  fixed,  namely,  the  tol- 
erance of  slaveholding  in  the  Episcopacy,  that  they 
would  fly  the  track,  and  set  up  for  themselves.  And 
in  that  event,  many  souls  would  be  injured,  and  per- 
haps turn  back  to  perdition ;  and  that  war  and  strife 
would  prevail  among  brethren  that  once  were  united 
as  a  brotherly  band,  and  that  they  must  of  neces- 
eity  become  a  slavery  Church.  And  I  the  more 
deeply  regretted  it  because  any  abomination  sanctified 
by  the  priesthood,  would  take  a  firmer  hold  on  the 
community,  and  that  this  very  circumstance  would 
*he  longer  perpetuate  the  evil  of  slavery,  and  perhaps 
would  be  the  entering  wedge  to  the  dissolution  of  our 
gloriou?  1  Fnion ;  and  perhaps  the  downfall  of  this  great 


424  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

republic.  And  though  I  stood  alone  among  the  dele- 
gates, my  colleagues,  of  my  own  beloved  Illinois  con- 
ference, in  my  vote  against  all  these  revolutionary 
and  divisive  measures  in  the  General  conference,  it 
afforded  me  great  pleasure  to  learn  that  my  course  in 
the  General  conference  was  approved  by  an  over- 
whelming majority  of  the  preachers  and  members  of 
our  conference.  And  it  still  affords  me  unspeakable 
pleasure  to  know  that  I  shall  not  have  to  answer  be- 
fore my  final  Judge  for  the  sin  of  dividing  the  Method- 
ist Episcopal  Church,  a  Church  that,  under  God,  I  am 
indebted  to  for  all  I  have  and  am ;  a  Church  that  1 
have  spent  a  long  life  in  trying  to  build  up,  and  for 
the  prosperity  of  which  I  have  made  sacrifices,  and  in 
the  communion  of  which  I  have  enjoyed  so  many 
unspeakable  privileges,  and  all  the  comfort  ard  pleas- 
ure, worth  calling  so,  in  this  life. 

This  Church  I  love,  and  want  no  other  on  earth, 
and  in  her  fellowship  I  hope  to  live  and  die,  and  with 
her  members,  and  all  other  fellow-Christians,  1  hope 
to  spend  a  blissful  eternity  in  adoring  God  the  Father, 
God  the  Son,  and  God  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  the  enjoy 
ment  of  redeeming  grace  and  dyin g  love. 


PETER    CARTWRTGHT.  425 


CHAPTER  XXVIH. 

RESTRICTIVE    RULE    AND   SLAVERY. 

IN  the  fall  of  1844  our  conference  was  held  in 
the  town  of  Xashville,  Washington  county,  Il- 
linois. Here  the  concurrence  of  the  conference  wa? 
asked  in  the  measures  of  the  General  conference 
Brother  Stamper  and  brother  Berryman,  who  had 
voted  with  the  South,  took  their  stand  for  concur- 
rence, and  I  took  my  stand  for  non-concurrence ;  and 
after  we  had  debated  the  subject  fully,  the  vote  was 
taken,  and  there  was  a  handsome  majority  in  favor  of 
non-concurrence.  So  the  measure  failed  in  our  con- 
ference, and  it  failed  throughout  all  the  annual 
conferences  of  obtaining  a  three-fourths  vote  for  con- 
currence ;  and  the  Restrictive  Rule  rera  lined  as  it  was, 
the  recommendation  of  the  General  conference  to  the 
contrary  notwithstanding. 

Now,  the  plain  state  of  fact  was  this:  Tl.r  main 
body  of  the  members  of  the  General  conference 
knew,  and  many  of  them  openly  said,  on  the  Gen- 
eral conference  floor,  both  northern  and  southern 
members,  that  the  General  conference  had  no  power 
either  to  divide  the  Church,  or  the  property  or  avails 
of  the  Book  Concern,  or  the  Chartered  Fund,  and  the 
act  of  the  General  conference  to  divide  the  property 
or  funds  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  only 
passed  provisionally.  They  knew  it  was  unconstitu- 
tional, and  their  design  was  to  change  the  Restrictive 
Rule,  or  constitutional  clause  of  the  Discipline,  so  as 


126  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

to  allow  this  division  of  the  property,  and  proceeds  of 
the  Book  Concern,  and  Chartered  Fund  of  the  Method- 
ist Episcopal  Church.  But  how  was  this  change  to  be 
brought  about  in  a  constitutional  way?  Answer.  See 
Discipline,  Part  1,  Chap,  ii,  Sec.  ii,  Ans.  G,  thus :  "  They 
[the  General  conference]  shall  not  appropriate  tre 
produce  of  the  Book  Concern,  nor  of  the  Charter 
Fund,  to  any  purpose  other  than  for  the  benefit  of  the 
traveling,  supernumerary,  superannuated,  and  worn- 
out  preachers,  their  wives,  widows,  and  children.  Pro- 
vided, nevertheless,  that  upon  the  concurrent  recom- 
mendation of  three-fourths  of  the  members  of  the 
several  annual  conferences,  who  shall  be  present 
and  vote  on  such  recommendation,  then  a  majority 
of  two-thirds  of  the  General  conference  succeeding 
shall  suffice  to  alter  any  of  the  above  restrictions, 
excepting  the  first  article :  and  also,  whenever  such 
alteration  or  alterations  shall  have  been  first  recom- 
mended by  two-thirds  of  the  General  conference,  so 
soon  as  three-fourths  of  the  members  of  all  the  an- 
nual conferences  shall  have  concurred  as  aforesaid, 
Buch  alteration  or  alterations  shall  take  effect." 

The  General  conference  of  1844  recommended  an 
alteration  in  this  sixth  Restrictive  Rule  of  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  sent 
round  to  all  the  annual  conferences  for  a  three- 
fourths  vote  of  concurrence.  Now,  notwithstanding 
this  was  the  favorite  measure  of  the  South,  and  not- 
withstanding every  member  of  all  the  seceding  slave- 
holding  conferences,  save  a  solitary  one,  voted  a  con- 
currence with  this  unreasonable  recommendation,  yet 
when  the  votes  of  all  the  annual  conferences  were 
counted,  they  fell  far  short  of  a  three-fourths  vote  of 
concurrence. 

Does  it  not,  therefore,  shock  all  the  hnnoraole,  high- 


PETER    CARTWRIGriT.  427 

minded  feelings  of  mankind,  to  know  that  the  public 
functionaries  of  justice  could  be  so  corrupt  as  to  de- 
cide against  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  those 
Church  suits  in  favor  of  the  Southern  seceders,  the 
self-styled  and  self-constituted  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  South?  I  hope  I  may  be  indulged  in  a  few 
remarks  on  this  vexed  question  of  slavery.  I  hold 
myself  to  be  an  unflinching  conservative  Methodist 
preacher.  I  know  that  slavery  is  an  evil,  and  a  great 
evil,  and  although  the  South  denies  this  ground,  and 
their  interested  cry  is  abolition !  abolition !  that  is, 
with  many  of  them,  this  cry  has  never  moved  me  one 
inch.  I  can  only  pray,  "Lord,  forgive  them;  they 
know  not  what  they  do." 

Nine-tenths  of  them,  members  and  preachers,  came 
into  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  with  their  eyes 
open  with  our  General  Rules,  and  other  rules,  all  open 
before  them;  if  they  did  not  like  them,  they  should 
not  have  joined  the  Church.  If  they  joined  not  know- 
ing the  rules,  when  they  came  to  the  knowledge  of 
them,  and  then  thought  them  radically  wrong,  they 
should  have  peaceably  retired,  or  withdrawn,  and  not 
have  vended  the  Church,  and  thrown  her  into  violent 
commotions;  and  turn  round  and  abuse  the  Church 
that,  under  God,  was  the  means  of  their  salvation. 
They  always  had  tangible  evidence  that  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  would  never  tolerate  slavery  in 
one  of  her  bishops,  and  they  had  no  just  right  to 
complain  when  the  General  conference  arrested 
Bishop  Andrew,  and  gave  as  the  sense  of  that  re- 
spectable body,  that  he  should  desist  from  the  exer- 
cise of  his  episcopal  functions,  till  he  rid  himself  of 
that  impediment.  As  a  prudent  Christian  bishop,  he 
should  have  done  this  of  his  own  accord. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  ultra  abolitionists  of  tha 


428  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   Of 

north)  or  any  where  else,  have  no  right  to  complain 
of  me  and  others,  and  deny  us  the  dignified  privilege 
of  being  conservatives,  and  hurl  their  anathemas 
against  us,  and  bring  a  railing  accusation  against  us 
of  "pro-slavery,  pro-slavery!"  And,  indeed,  they 
treat  us  with  less  decent  respect  than  God  permitted 
Michael  the  archangel  to  treat  the  devil,  for  he  did 
not  allow  Michael  to  bring  a  railing  accusation  against 
his  Satanic  majesty;  but  permitted  him  only  to  say, 
"  The  Lord  rebuke  thee."  Mr.  Wesley  never  made  slave 
holding  a  test  of  membership;  and  when,  in  1784,  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  organized,  slavery 
was  not  made  a  test  of  membership;  it  never  has 
been  a  test  of  membership,  from  the  apostolic  day 
down  to  the  present.  I  ask,  then,  what  right  have 
these  Babel  builders  to  introduce  a  new  test  of  mem- 
bership in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church?  They, 
like  the  South,  joined  the  Methodist  Church  under 
her  present  rules  on  slavery,  and  did  it  with  their 
eyes  open.  Why  did  they  join  her?  And,  if  they 
were  ignorant  of  our  rules  on  slavery  when  they 
joined,  after  they  informed  themselves,  and  did  not, 
and  could  not  become  reconciled  to  those  rules  or 
the  Church,  why  did  they  not  peaceably  withdraw  or 
leave,  and  not  keep  the  Church  in  an  eternal  agita- 
tion and  confusion?  thereby  prejudicing  the  slave- 
holders in  the  south,  cutting  off  our  access  to  them 
and  their  slaves,  rending  the  Church,  embroiling  the 
whole  nation,  which  threatens  a  rupture  of  our  na- 
tional Union,  and  the  destructive  ravages  of  civil  war. 
Before,  and  at  the  time  of  the  southern  secession, 
there  were  three  of  our  Church  papers,  with  three 
Methodist  preachers  as  editors  of  those  papers,  in  the 
south  paid  for  their  services  out  of  the  funds  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  They  were  elected  and 


PETER    CAKTWRIGHT.  429 

paid  to  spread  religions  knowledge,  and  defend  the 
doctrines  and  usages  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church;  but  how  did  they  act,  and  discharge  the 
highly-responsible  duties  of  their  office  ?  It  is  true, 
they  wrote  many  good  things;  but  it  is  also  true, 
that  they  put  into  requisition  all  their  tact  and  talent 
to  abuse  the  Church  which  was  giving  them  their 
bread,  denouncing  her  as  an  ultra  abolition  Church. 
Now,  was  this  the  course  that  honorable,  high-minded 
Christian  ministers  should  have  taken?  Surely  not. 
Well,  since  this  glorious  inconsistency  attached  to  the 
South,  we  have  elected  editors  in  the  north  and 
north-west,  under  precisely  the  same  circumstances 
as  the  Scuthern  editors  who  have  lived  on  the  pap  of 
the  Church ;  and  they  have  opened  their  batteries,  de 
nouncing  her  as  a  pro-slavery  Church.  "  O  Consist- 
ency, thou  art  a  jewel !"  If  these  editors  were  con- 
science stricken  on  these  subjects,  why  did  they  not 
resign  their  editorial  offices,  and  set  up  independent 
sheets,  and  vent  their  spleen  against  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  on  their  own  responsibility,  and 
support  themselves? 

The  middle  ground  between  these  ultra  extremes 
is  what  I  call  conservative  ground ;  that  is,  we  say,  in 
the  language  of  our  most  excellent  Discipline,  that 
slavery  is  a  great  evil ;  and  the  grand  question  is, 
What  shall  be  done  for  its  extirpation  ?  Now,  I  sup- 
pose it  will  be  admitted  on  all  hands,  that  to  do  as  the 
Southern  preachers  have  done,  that  is,  to  plead  that 
it  is  right,  and  justify  it  by  the  word  of  God,  is  not, 
and  can  not  be  the  way  to  extirpate  this  evil. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  we  inquire,  what  has  ultra 
abolition  done  to  extirpate  this  great  evil,  what  must 
be  the  truthful  answer?  It  is  simply  this:  With  the 
exception  of  a  few  negroes  that  they  have  abducted, 


430  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

enticed  to  run  away,  or  have  been  transported  on 
their  underground  railroads  to  Canada,  to  starve,  and 
to  be  degraded  worse  than  with  their  lawful  owners ; 
and  the  very  few  runaway  slaves  that,  by  mob  vio- 
lence, and  in  contravention  of  law,  they  have  kept 
from  their  legal  owners,  they  have  not  secured  the 
emancipation  of  a  single  slave,  from  Passamaquoddy 
to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  ;  nay,  so  far  from  it,  they 
have  greatly  retarded  the  efforts  of  the  coloniza- 
tion societies  every-where  ;  they  have  poisoned  the 
minds  and  inflamed  the  wrath  of  slaveholders  in  the 
south,  till  a  decent  man,  and  especially  a  minister, 
hailing  from  a  free  state,  can  hardly  pass,  or  repass, 
in  a  slave  territory,  without  the  risk  of  a  suit  of  tar 
and  feathers,  and  even  pulling  hemp  by  the  neck  oc- 
casionally. And  this  mighty  mountain  of  the  north, 
that  for  years,  yea,  many  years,  has  been  heaving, 
bellowing,  and  groaning,  in  mighty  pain,  to  be  de- 
livered, has  brought  forth;  and  what  is  it?  a  poor, 
little,  insignificant  m-o-u-s-e;  while  conservative 
Methodist  preachers,  in  many  instances,  who  have 
inherited  slaves,  have  set  them  free,  or  colonized 
them  in  Africa.  We  have  gone  to  slaveholders  in 
Delaware,  Maryland,  Virginia,  Tennessee,  Kentucky, 
and  Missouri,  in  a  peaceful  Christian  way  ;  and  while 
we  never  ceased  to  bear  an  honest  testimony  against 
the  moral  evil  of  slavery — but  did  not  meddle  with  it 
politically — we  successfully  persuaded  many  of  these 
slaves  and  slaveholders  to  turn  to  God,  and  obtain 
religion  ;  and  we  got  hundreds  and  thousands  of  these 
poor  slaves  set  free.  Let  the  many  emancipated 
slaves,  and  their  former  owners  in  the  above-named 
states,  bear  witness  to  the  truth  of  what  I  hcic  record. 
TliijJ  is  the  firm  and  impregnable  ground  for  a  true 
Conservative  to  stand  upon;  and  this  ground  will  ^uve 


PETEll   CART  W  RIGHT.  431 

the  Church,  the  Union,  tlie  slave,  and  the  slaveholder" 
and  I  would  not  exchange  it  for  all  the  ultraisrns  of  the 
north  and  south  put  together,  and  a  thousand  such. 

In  connection  with  this  subject  I  wish  to  say  a  few 
things  concerning  a  meeting  I  accidentally  fell  in 
with  in  Cincinnati,  I  think  in  1848 ;  I  do  not  think  I 
heard  the  name  of  the  meeting;  if  I  did,  I  have  for- 
gotten it;  but  when  I  give  a  very  feeble  description 
of  it,  perhaps  some  of  my  readers  may  be  able  to 
christen  the  brat,  for  it  was  surely  begotten  in  the 
regions,  or  sprang  from  the  soil  of  "bigheadism,"  and 
the  little  thing's  disease  had  turned  to  the  "stiff  com- 
plaint;" or,  in  other  words,  I  found  the  meeting  to  be 
composed  of  a  heterogeneous  mass  of  disaffected,  cen- 
sured, or  expelled  preachers,  that  is,  the  speakers  were 
mostly  from  the  Methodist,  Presbyterian,  and  Baptist 
Churches.  The  house  was  filled  with  almost  all  sorts, 
sizes,  and  colors;  black,  white,  and  yellow,  men, 
women,  and  children.  They  had  called  to  the  chair 
one  of  their  number  as  moderator.  If  my  memory  ia 
correct,  the  first  speaker  that  rose  and  addressed  the 
motley  crowd,  said  he  had  been  so  many  years  a 
regular  pastor  of  a  Baptist  Church  in  Kentucky,  that 
he  had  used  all  his  talents  and  influence  to  resist  the 
damning  influence  of  slavery,  but  was  overruled  in 
every  attempt.  He  stated  that  the  ministers  and 
ruling  members  had  often  met,  conversed,  and  de- 
bated the  subject,  but  he  was  overruled  every  time. 
They  would  not  tur.  slaveholders  out  of  the  Church, 
nor  make  slaveholding  a  test  of  membership;  and 
after  having  his  righteous  soul  vexed  for  years  with 
their  filthy  conversation  and  conduct,  he  felt  it  was 
his  duty  to  come  out  of  the  Baptist  Church.  lie  then 
warned  the  members  of  said  Church,  and  all  others, 
to  come  out  of  all  slaveholding  Churches:  "Come 


432  AUTOBIOQKAPHl    ujf 

out,  come  out;  touch  not,  taste  not,  and  handle  not 
the  unclean  thing."  This  speech  was  received  with 
applause  by  the  listening  crowd  of  many  colors. 

Next  arose  a  Mr.  S h.  He  said  he  was  a  Prot- 
estant Methodist,  but  had  been  a  member  and  minis- 
ter of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  traveled 
as  such  for  years.  He  had  also  fought  slavery  for  a 
long  time  to  get  it  out  of  the  Church,  but  always 
failed,  for  they  loved  the  accursed  thing;  and  that  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was,  to  all  intents  and 
purposes,  a'  slavcholding  and  a  slavery-approving 
Church.  The  crowd  clapped  him  while  he  cried, 
"  Come  out,  come  out  of  her,  my  people,"  arid  his 
speech  was  greatly  applauded  by  the  mixed  multi- 
tude, colored  and  all. 

The  third  speaker  was  a  Presbyterian  preacher, 
lie  said  he  had  experienced  the  same  trials,  conflicts, 
and  debates  with  his  brethren  in  the  Church,  that  his 
two  brethren  who  had  spoken  before  had  waded 
through,  but  all  of  no  avail;  his  conscience  would 
not  let  him  remain  a  member  or  minister  of  a  slave- 
holding  Church  any  longer;  he  must  come  out;  and 
exhorted  all  people  to  "  Come  out,  and  be  ye  clean, 
and  touch  not  the  unclean  thing,  and  I  will  receive 
you,  saith  the  Lord,  and  I  will  be  your  God,  and  ye 
shall  be  my  people,  saith  the  Lord." 

After  this  there  arose  on  the  floor  a  very  respecta- 
ble-looking man,  and  replied  to  most  of  the  statement 
of  these  three  come-outers,  and  he  showed  very  clear- 
lv,  and  by  irresistible  arguments,  that  the  ground 
they  took  was  a  false  ground,  and  that  they,  or  the 
principles  they  advocated,  were  clearly  disorganizing 
and  revolutionary  in  their  nature,  and  in  all  their  tend- 
encies. There  was  a  clerical  gentleman  sitting  at  rny 
side,  who  said  that  from  personal  knowledge  he  could 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  433 

say  that  all  three  of  these  men  who  first  addressed 
the  audience,  were  under  charges  of  immorality 
when  they  pretended  to  come  out  of  their  Churches  on 
account  of  slavery. 

I  have  seen  a  great  many  such  preachers  as  above 
described.  When  their  bad  conduct  could  not  be 
bornje  with  in  their  respective  Churches  any  longer, 
and  the  disciplinary  excisions  were  about  to  be  in- 
flicted on  them,  they  fled,  picking  some  flaw,  or 
alleging  some  dreadful  wrong  in  the  Church  as  they 
ran  and  criefl,  "Come  out,  come  out  of  her!"  0, 
the  infant  Church  of  Christ,  how  it  suffered  in  its 
rery  minority  by  the  unfaithfulness  of  its  ministers ! 
[n  the  very  first  little  conference  of  preachers  that 
was  organized,  Judas  turned  traitor  and  betrayed  the 
blessed  Savior.  Peter  perhaps  the  boldest  of  the 
twelve,  denied  him  with  horrid  oaths  and  bitter  curses. 
What  do  you  suppose  the  astonished  ten  thought  under 
these  appalling  circumstances?  Judas  relented,  and 
hung  himself  for  the  dreadful  wrong  he  ha<l  done 
against  the  innocent  Savior.  Peter  felt  compunc- 
tion and  wept  bitterly ;  was  mercifully  reclaimed  or 
converted  from  his  apostasy,  and,  for  many  years  ot 
persecution  and  trial,  strengthened  his  brethren 
What  a  fearful  account  will  unfaithful  preachers, 
who  have  torn,  rent,  and  divided  the  Church  of 
God,  have  to  give  in  the  day  of  judgment,  when 
the  blighting  curses  of  Heaven  shall  fall  on  their  un 
faithful  and  devoted  heads!  Lord,  save  us  from  un- 
faithfulness ! 

On  my  way  to  conference  at  Nashville  in  the  fall 
of  1844,  I  was  suddenly  taken  ill  with  a  real  shaking 
ague  in  a  large,  extensive  prairie,  ten  miles  across, 
and  shook  so  severely  that  I  could  not  sit  in  my 
sulky.  I  got  out  and  lay  lown  on  the  grass,  ant* 
28' 


43-1  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

really  thought  I  should  die  for  want  of  \vutcr.  N* 
house  or  water  near,  no  human  being  approached  me 
to  aid  me  in  any  way;  but  after  about  two  hours  mj 
shaking  abated,  and  I  traveled  some  ten  or  twelve 
miles  to  a  camp  meeting  which  was  iu  progress  at 
brother  Gilham's  camp-ground,  where  I  lingered  a 
d;iy  or  two.  There  was  a  botanic  doctor  on  the  ground, 
who  lived  in  Alton  City.  lie  kindly  took  me  to  his 
house,  and,  in  a  few  (lays,  checked  my  disease.  The 
preachers  all  left  me,  being  anxious  to  be  at  confer- 
ence, which  was  to  commence  on  tKe  Wednesday 
following.  They,  as  well  as  myself,  were  totally  in 
despair  of  my  reaching  the  conference.  I  was  very 
jmxious  to  get  there,  for  the  great  question,  so  far 
as  our  conference  was  concerned,  was  to  be  settled 
of  concurrence  or  non-concurrence  with  the  recom- 
mendation of  the  General  conference. 

I  waited  till  Friday  morning.  I  prayed  for  strength 
to  go  to  conference,  and,  while  praying,  a  strong  im- 
pression was  made  on  my  mind  that  I  could  get  there. 
I  rose  from  my  knees  and  determined  to  try.  The 
doctor  remonstrated  against  my  attempting  to  go, 
but  I  deliberately  told  him  I  was  going  if  I  died  in 
one  mile.  When  he  saw  I  was  determined  to  try  it, 
he  put  up  some  medicine,  and  I  got  a  good  brother 
to  drive  my  horse  for  me  and  started,  arid,  strange  as 
it  may  appear,  I  mended  every  mile,  and  on  Sunday 
morning  I  reached  the  conference,  and  was  able  tc 
attend  to  business  the  balance  of  the  session,  and 
especially  to  take  a  part  in  the  debates,  and  carry  the 
vote  in  favor  of  non-concurrence.  This  circumstance 
I  have  always  looked  upon  as  a  kind  interposition  oi 
Providence;  and,  indeed,  the  defeat  of  this  project  b) 
the  annual  conferences  was  directed  by  God  nimself 
and  could  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  1  ave  go* 


P  E  T  E  K    C  A  11  T  \V  R  I  0  11  T  .  435 

ten  justice  in  the  civil  courts,  according  to  the  true 
merits  of  the  case,  the  ill-gotten  gains  of  the  southern 
secession  would  have  been  small ;  but  I  predict  that 
it  will  not  prosper  with  them. 

My  appointment  this  fall  was  to  the  Bloomington 
district,  which  was  composed  of  the  following  ap- 
pointments, namely:  Bloomington,  Mount  Pleasant. 
Monticello,  Clinton,  Havana,  Fancy  Creek,  Decatur, 
and  Postville.  This  was  a  gloomy  conference  year. 
We  had  very  little  revival  influence  in  our  district,  or 
in  the  conference,  and,  indeed,  scarcely  any  through- 
out the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  The  delegates 
of  the  General  conference  from  the  southern  confer- 
ences returned  home,  and  appointed  mass  meetings 
in  every  direction,  and  poured  out  the  phials  of  wrath 
upon  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  especially  the 
majority  of  the  members  of  the  General  conference. 
They  declared  that  we  were  all  abolitionists,  and 
drummed  up  a  convention  of  the  preachers  from  the 
slaveholding  conferences.  Bishop  Soule  presided  in 
it,  sitting  calmly  on  the  ignited  clouds,  and  directing 
the  thunder-storm;  and  though  that  convention,  by 
solemn  vote,  renounced  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  and  formed  themselves  into 
a  separate  organization;  and  though  Bishop  Soule 
declared  in  the  General  conference  of  1844  that  ho 
would  not  be  immolated  on  a  northern  or  southern 
altar,  but  on  the  altar  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church;  now,  notwithstanding  all  this  and  a  thou- 
sand times  as  much,  he  had  the  very  uncommon 
hardihood  to  come  round  and  preside  in  our  confer- 
ences which  had  not  seceded,  and  persisted  in  this 
course,  lending  all  his  aid  and  influence  to  the  seces- 
sion, till  the  Ohio  conference  gave  him  a  glorious 
Busier,  aud  refused  to  let  him  preside  over  them.  I 


486  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

had  prepared  this  dose  for  his  nonor  if  he  had  attend 
ed  the  Rock  River  or  Illinois  conferences,  but  after 
the  rebuff  the  Ohio  conference  gave  him,  prudence, 
with  him,  for  once  prevailed,  and  he  did  not  attend 
our  conferences,  but  Bishop  Morris  attended  and  pre- 
sided in  them. 

There  never  were  more  unfair  and  foul  means  re- 
sorted to  by  any  set  of  ministers  to  divide  and  destroy 
a  Church  than  was  resorted  to  by  many  of  these  slave- 
holding  preachers  in  the  south;  and  I  can  not  help 
blaming  Bishop  Soule  more  than  all  the  rest.  I  shall 
always  believe  that  the  goodness  of  Bishop  Andrew's 
heart  was  such  that  he  would  have  voluntarily  pledged 
himself  to  the  General  conference  that  he  would,  as 
soon  as  practicable,  remove  the  impediment;  and  if 
he  had  done  this,  it  would  have  been  hailed,  and 
hailed  with  a  shout,  by  the  delegates  from  all  the  ad- 
hering conferences,  the  few  ultra  abolitionists  not  ex- 
ccpted.  If  he  had  done  so,  how  much  better  would  it 
have  been  for  himself,  for  the  South,  for  the  Method- 
ist Episcopal  Church,  and,  indeed,  for  our  distracted 
country  at  large !  and  perhaps  the  blessedness  of  such 
a  course  in  Bishop  Andrew  would  have  told  with 
thrilling  effect  on  the  surrounding  millions  in  other 
governments;  and  unborn  millions,  of  future  genera- 
tions, would  rise  up  and  call  him  blessed.  Though  he 
might  be  dead,  and  gone  to  heaven,  yet  his  noble, 
magnanimous,  Christian  example  would  have  told  in 
tones  of  thunder  on  an  ungodly  and  oppressive  world 
and  the  lucid  light  of  his  Christian  example  woultf 
have  shone  with  brilliant  splendor,  and  the  exampl 
thus  set  by  a  Methodist  bishop  would  have  said  to  al 
the  world,  "Follow  me,  as  I  have  followed  Christ." 

The  Bishop  in  this  case  should  have  known  no  man 
or  set  of  men  after  the  flesh.     I  know  the  preacher 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  43? 

friendly  to  slavery  clung  to  him  and  his  case  as  a  for- 
lorn hope,  and  as  the  last  resort  to  carry  their  point 
with ;  namely,  slavery  in  the  episcopacy ;  and  a  fairer 
subject  they  never  could  have  had;  for  although  we 
think  Bishop  Andrew  did  wrong  in  this  matter,  and 
greatly  erred,  yet  we  love  him,  and  think  him  a  good 
nan,  and  that  he  was  every  way  worthy  of  the  office 
of  a  bishop,  slavery  excepted. 

My  heart  has  bled  at  every  opening  pore,  at  the 
untold  mischief  this  rupture  in  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  has  and  will  produce,  from  the  very 
nature  of  things — I  mean  fallen  nature.  The  Southern 
preachers  will,  in  self-justification,  throw  the  blame 
on  the  preachers  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
and  thereby  poison  the  minds  of  a  great  majority  of 
the  slaveholding  south;  for  they  are  as  rabidly  in 
favor  of  slavery  as  the  extravagant  abolitionists  are 
against  it.  With  the  two  extreme  parties  there  is  no 
middle  ground;  for  each  of  them,  assuming  that  they 
are  infallibly  right,  cry  out,  "  They  that  are  not  for  us 
are  against  us."  I  have  contended  with  these  two 
extremes  for  many  years,  as  a  preacher  of  the  Method- 
ist Episcopal  Church,  and  I  have  often  been  astounded 
beyond  measure  at  the  absurdities  and  inconsistencies 
of  these  extreme  belligerent  parties;  but  why  should 
J?  It  is  as  certain  for  extremes  to  engender  absurd- 
ities, inconsistencies,  and  self-evident  contradictions, 
as  for  effects  to  follow  causes,  or  for  like  to  go  to. like 
philosophically.  As  one  of  these  extremes  has  re- 
nounced the  jurisdiction  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  leaving  the  middle-ground  ministers  and 
members  of  it  completely  and  altogether  in  the  range 
and  raking  fire  of  the  artillery  of  the  northern  ultras, 
I  have  indulged  in  the  fond  hope  that  these  northern 
abstractionists  would,  if  they  can  not  be  reconciled  ta 


438  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

conservative,  consistent  Methodism,  as  it  was  fiuni 
the  beginning,  go  and  set  up  for  themselves,  and  let 
the  old,  conservative  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
alone;  but  no,  they  seem  determined  to  agitate,  and 
keep  on  agitating,  till  they  drive  us  into  another 
inglorious  secession,  and  they  remain  in  peaceable 
possession  of  the  hard  earnings  of  all  the  labors  of 
conservative  Methodist  members  and  preachers  from 
the  beginning.  But  no,  I  can  tell  them  for  their 
comfort,  if  they  are  within  the  reach  of  comforting 
considerations,  if  this  is  their  aim,  they  need  not  put 
any  flattering  unction  to  their  souls  on  this  ground, 
for  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 

"  Has  fought  through  many  a  battle  sore," 

and  she 

"  Expects  to  fight  through  many  more," 

and  will  stand  as  she  is,  and  as  she  has  always  been; 
and  while  there  is  a  splinter  from  a  shattered  plank 
of  the  old  Methodist  ship  Zion,  I  intend  to  hold  on 
to  her  with  a  dying  grasp,  and  if  necessity  compels, 
with  our  dying  breath  cry  to  all  around,  "Do  n't  give 
up  the  ship !" 

I  am  devoutly  glad  that  there  is  an  overruling 
Providence,  where  we  may  place  our  hope  and  con- 
fidence; and  though  we  can  not  see  through'or  com- 
preh-end  the  permissive  providences  of  God,  yet  if  we 
can,  under  all  circumstances,  trust  God  aright,  we  are 
assumed  that  "  all  things  shall  work  together  for  good 
to  them  that  love  him/'  May  not  this  slavery  seces- 
sion from  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  be  over- 
ruled by  a  divine  Providence,  and  react,  and  show 
that  the  wisdom  of  men  is  foolishness  with  God?  and 
under  the  overruling  interposition  •.»!  the  Almighty 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  439 

Hasten  in  its  time  the  total  extinction  of  slavery,  that 
has  so  long  placed  a  foul  blot  upon  the  fair  escutcheon 
of  our  country!  Who  knows,  or  can  divine?  Let 
us  look  to  God,  and  constantly  and  ardently  pray, 
kiThy  kingdom  come ;  thy  will  be  done  in  earth  as 
it  is  iu  heaven;"  use  spiritual  weapons,  and  leave  all 
events  to  God. 

It  will  be  found,  on  an  examination  of  our  Minutes, 
that  the  year  before  the  great  southern  secession,  the 
increase  of  membership  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  was  over  one  hundred  thousand ;  that  in  the 
year  of  and  after  the  secession  there  was  a  decrease 
of  over  thirty-one  thousand  members.  A  great  many 
of  these  were  along  what  was  called  the  line,  in  the 
border  conferences,  who  were  not  numbered  in  either 
division ;  and  a  great  number,  from  the  confusion  and 
dissatisfaction  that  arose  in  the  Church  from  this  rup- 
ture, attached  themselves  to  other  Churches;  and 
perhaps  many  went  out  that  never  returned  to  either 
division,  nor  did  they  seek  membership  in  any  other 
branch  of  the  Christian  Church,  and  perhaps  were 
lost  forever.  What  an  awful  thought!  These  were 
the  fearful,  legitimate  results  of  schism  ;  and,  indeed, 
this  dreadful  rupture  in  the  jMethodist  Church  spread 
terror  over  almost  every  other  branch  of  the  Church 
of  Christ;  and  really,  disguise  it  as  we  mav,  it  shook 
the  pillars  of  our  American  government  to  the  center, 
and  many  of  our  ablest  statesmen  were  alarmed,  and 
looked  upon  it  as  the  entering  wedge  to  political  dis- 
union, and  a  fearful  step  toward  the  downfall  of  our 
happy  republic ;  and  it  is  greatly  to  be  feared  that 
the  constant  agitation  and  unscrupulous  aitathemna 
indulged  in  by  frenzied  preachers  and  unprincipled 
demagogues,  political  demagogues,  that  seek  more  for 
the  spoils  of  office  than  the  freedom  of  the  slave  or  the 


440  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

good  of  the  country,  will  so  burst  the  bonds  of  broth 
erly  love  and  the  real  love  of  country,  that  all  th' 
horrors  of  civil  -war  will  break  upon  us  shortly,  an-, 
firebrands,  arrows,  and  death,  be  thrown  broad-cast 
over  the  land,  and  anarchy,  mobs,  and  lawless  despe- 
tidoes  reign  triumphant;  and  then  the  fair  fabric  of 
oar  happy  republic  will  be  tumbled  into  ruins,  and  the 
iberties  that  our  fathers  fought  for,  and  that  cost  the 
blood  and  treasure  of  the  best  patriots  that  ever  lived, 
will  be  lost  forever.  I  would  beg  imploringly  all  hon- 
est-hearted lovers  of  their  country,  and  the  liberties 
we^enjoy,  to  unitedly  stand  up  against  every  device, 
stratagem,  and  political  combination,  whether  secretly 
or  openly  carried  on,  by  dishonest  intriguers,  to  ruin 
our  country. 


PETER   CART  WRIGHT.  441 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

TRAVELING  PRAIRIE  IN  WINTER. 

IN*  the  fall  of  1345  our  Illinois  conference  was  held 
in  Springfield,  September  3d;  Bishop  Morris  presid- 
ing. I  was  returned  to  the  Bloomington  district, 
which  remained  pretty  near  as  before.  This  district 
lies  in  a  vast,  fertile  prairie  country,  interspersed  with 
delightful  groves,  and  at  this  time  was  but  sparsely 
populated;  but  since  has  rapidly  filled  up  and  im- 
proved. The  district  then  extended  from  the  mouth 
of  the  Sangamon  river,  where  it  empties  into  the  Illi- 
nois river,  and  up  said  river  to  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Mackinaw  river;  thence  east  to  Bloomington,  and 
still  east  to  the  head  of  the  Sangamon  river;  thence 
with  said  river  to  its  mouth.  There  was  also  a  part 
of  the  Decatur,  and  the  entire  of  Monticello  circuits, 
south  of  this  river,  appended  to  this  district.  In 
the  dead  of  winter,  or  in  the  spring  floods,  it  was 
tolerably  hazardous  to  go  through  and  around  this 
district,  and  very  laborious  to  go  round  it  four  times 
in  the  year. 

In  the  winter  of  1845-46,  my  round  of  winter  quar- 
terly meetings  commenced ;  there  had  fallen  a  deep 
enow,  turned  warm,  and  rained  in  torrents;  then  sud- 
denly turned  intensely  cold;  the  streams  mostly  froze 
over,  and  nearly  the  whole  face  of  the  country  was 
one  continued  sheet  of  ice.  This  storm  came  upon 
me  at  or  near  Bloomington,  the  north  edge  of  my 


442  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

district.  My  next  quarterly  meeting  was  south  o 
the  Sangamon  river,  sixty  or  seventy  miles  distant. 
My  friends  dissuaded  me  from  making  even  an  afe- 
tempt  to  go  to  it.  I  well  knew  it  was  hazardous  in 
the  extreme;  but  I,  as  a  traveling  preacher,  had,  from 
the  beginning  of  my  itinerancy,  seldom  ever  made  a 
disappointment,  and  had  a  very  great  aversion  to 
these  disappointments,  having  always  made  it  a  deter- 
mined point,  if  possible,  to  fill  my  appointments;  and 
if  difficulties  surrounded  me,  I  never  knew  whether  1 
could  overcome  them  or  not,  till  I  tried;  so  to  try  was 
my  motto;  and  if,  after  using  due  diligence  in  trying, 
my  way  was  so  insurmountably  hedged  up  that  I  could 
not  accomplish  impossibilities,  I  in  the  main  felt  con- 
tented and  happy ;  for,  in  my  early  career  as  a  trav- 
eling preacher,  I  learned  this  happy  lesson  not  to  fight 
against  Providence.  So  in  despite  of  the  importuni- 
ties of  my  friends  I  set  out. 

My  way  lay  mostly  through  a  dreary  and  uninhab- 
ited prairie,  with  a  small  blind  path,  which,  in  many 
places,  Avas  rendered  invisible  by  the  snow  and 
ice;  but,  fortunately  for  me,  my  way  led  south,  be- 
tween two  large  branches,  not  far  to  my  right  and 
left;  and  these  being  considerably  swollen  by  the  late 
rains,  and  then  suddenly  frozen  over,  I  found  to  bo 
a  better  guide  than  my  blind  path;  for  when  I  would 
miss  iny  path,  and  veer  too  much  to  the  right,  I  would 
meet  my  branch  frozen  over,  and  wheel  to  the  left 
again;  and  so  it  would  be  when  I  would  get  oft"  the 
track  to  the  left  hand.  Thus  guided,  I  measured 
about  twenty  miles,  and  about  one  o'clock  I  hove  up 
to  a  point  where  these  two  branches  met  and  formed 
a  large  creek,  which  was  overflowing  its  banks,  and 
was  swimming  from  bank  to  bank.  For  many  miles 
back  I  had  not  passed  a  solitary  house,  out  right 


PETER    CARTWRIQHT.  443 

here  was  a  little,  old,  solitary  smoky  cabin,  <md  a 
poor,  dirty,  ragged  family,  hovering  and  shivering 
over  a  small  fire.  The  man,  the  head  of  the  family, 
was  gone  out  hunting.  I  was  hungry,  and  asked  for 
food,  but  the  good  woman  informed  me  she  could  not 
give  me  any  thing  to  eat,  for  the  best  of  reasons,  they 
had  nothing  for  themselves.  I  looked  around,  and 
plainly  saw  I  could  not  quarter  there  that  night.  But 
how  to  get  on  to  the  settlement  about  six  miles  ahead 
was  the  question.  The  woman  informed  me,  if  I 
could  cross  the  branch  which  had  guided  me  to  the 
right  as  I  came  there,  and  then  would  take  the  tim- 
ber along  the  margin  of  the  large  creek,  into  which 
my  branches  emptied,  for  my  guide,  in  about  seven 
miles  I  would  come  to  houses.  But  how  to  get  ovei 
this  branch  was  the  puzzle.  It  was  at  least  one  hun- 
dred yards  across,  being  swollen  with  the  last  rains, 
and  it  was  frozen  over,  but  would  not  bear  my  horse 
So  I  paused  a  minute,  and  thought  over  my  condition. 
I  plainly  saw  I  must  retrace  my  steps  till  I  could 
cross  this  branch,  and  if  I  could  not  cross  it  at  all,  I 
must  return  to  the  settlement  from  whence  I  had 
started.  So  I  got  in  my  buggy,  cracked  my  whip, 
and  started  back.  In  the  course  of  a  mile  or  two  my 
branch  narrowed  considerably,  which  inspired  me 
with  cheering  hopes. 

I  maile  several  attempts  to  cross  the  branch,  but 
my  horse  broke  through,  and  with  great  difficulty  I 
vould  retreat ;  and  after  retreating  four  or  five  miles, 
my  branch  spread  out  largely,  and  became  very 
shallow ;  so  ir  I  ventured.  My  horse  broke  through, 
but  from  the  shallowness  of  the  water,  I  got  safely 
across ;  and  leaving  the  branch  to  the  left,  and 
wheeling  again  south,  took  it  for  my  guide,  and  pres- 
ently came  to  the  main  creek,  which  leaving  fo  my 


444  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

left,  urged  on  my  way  for  the  settlement ;  and  though 
I  had  to  cross  many  ponds  frozen  over,  and  many 
branches  in  the  same  condition,  my  horse  nearly 
worn  down,  and  myself  cold,  hungry,  and  much  fa 
tigued,  about  dark  I  came  up  to  a  cabin,  and 
looked  so  much  like  the  one  I  had  left  in  the  point 
that  I  passed  on.  The  second  cabin  I  came  to  looked 
better ;  and  though  a  total  stranger  in  this  region  of 
the  country,  when  I  hailed  at  the  gate,  who  should 
come  out  but  an  old  class-leader  and  exhorter  in  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  whose  acquaintance  1 
had  made  some  time  before  at  a  distant  quarterly 
meeting.  He  saluted  me  as  one  blessed  of  the  Lord," 
bid  me  a  cordial  welcome,  and  so  did  his  fine  sisterly 
wife  and  children.  My  horse  was  put  up,  and  well 
cared  for ;  and  soon  a  good  backwoods  supper,  that 
abounded  in  all  the  substantials  of  life,  was  on  the 
table.  We  sat  down,  and  I  partook  with  a  relish  only 
known  to  a  weary,  hungry  man.  We  had  prayers, 
and  the  most  of  us  got  shouting  happy  ;  and  one  of  his 
interesting  sons,  while  we  were  all  engaged  in  prayer, 
was  solemnly  convicted,  and  after  praying  in  mighty 
agony  for  several  hours,  the  Lord  blessed  him  with  a 
powerful  sense  of  the  forgiveness  of  his  sins.  Foi 
hours  we  sung,  prayed,  and  shouted  together,  then  I 
retired  to  rest,  and  I  slept  as  sweet  and  sound  as  if  I 
had  been  bedded  on  a  divan  of  King  Solomon's  palace. 
This  young  man  shouted  and  praised  God  nearly  all 
night. 

This  is  the  way  God  converts  sinners  in  the  back 
woods,  and  a  very  faint  specimen  of  the  way  that 
western  pioneer  Methodist  preachers  planted  Meth- 
odism in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  This  good  old 
brother  remained  a  few  years  among  us,  and  witnessed 
»  good  confession ;  left  the  world  with  a  triumpham 


PETER   CARTWRIQHT.  445 

shout,  fell  asleep  in  Jesus,  and  went  home  to 
glory ! 

Next  morning  I  started  on  to  my  quarterly  meeting, 
and  just  as  1  got  to  the  bridge,  on  the  main  Sangamon 
river,  the  high  water  had  surrounded  it,  but  not  deep 
enough  to  ?wim  my  horse,  who  waded  through,  and  I 
passed  over  safely,  and  got  to  my  quarterly  meeting  in 
good  time ;  and  although  the  weather  was  disagree- 
able, yet  the  people  crowded  out.  The  word  of  God 
took  hold  on  sinners,  many  of  them  wept,  and  cried 
for  mercy,  and  found  by  happy  experience,  that 
Christ  had  power  on  earth  to  forgive  sins.  About 
twenty-eight  were  soundly  converted  to  God,  the  most 
of  whom  joined  the  Church,  and  Methodism  was 
planted  here  firmly,  never  to  be  destroyed,  I  humbly 
trust.  I  have  often  thought  of  this  scene,  and  many 
similar  scenes  through  which  I  have  passed,  during 
my  protracted  ministry  ;  and  when  I  look  back  on 
them  my  heart  grows  warm,  and  swells  with  gratitude 
to  my  heavenly  Father  for  the  sanction  he  has  given 
to  my  poor  little  ministry  amid  all  the  sacrifices  and 
sufferings  through  which  I  have  passed,  as  a  Meth- 
odist itinerant  preacher ;  and  to  his  holy  name  be  all 
the  glory,  both  now  and  forever ! 

In  the  Bloomington  district  I  had  many  warm 
personal  friends,  many  members  that  I  had  received 
into  the  Church  in  Kentucky,  and  some,  in  whose 
houses  I  had  preached  in  the  days  of  my  comparative 
youth  ;  and  although  it  was  a  hard  district  for  me  to 
travel,  my  family  living  entirely  beyond  its  bounds, 
yet  I  was  much  attached  to  this  field  of  labor  and  the 
brethren,  preachers,  and  people.  Some  of  these  old 
members  had  fought  side  by  side  with  me  in  Ken- 
tucky and  western  Tennessee,  where  and  when 
Methodism  had  many  glorious  triumphs  over  slavery. 


446  All  TUB  JOG  KA  I'll  Y    OP 

whisky,  and  superfluous  dressing.  These  were  hei 
internal  foes ;  but  she  not  only  triumphed  over  these 
enemies,  but  she  triumphed  over  her  combined  hosts 
of  inveterate  and  uncompromising  sectarian  enemies, 
and  attained  an  elevated  position  in  the  affections  of 
very  many  of  the  best  citizens  of  those  states.  Now, 
many  of  those  brethren  who  sung,  prayed,  and  preached 
to  and  with  us,  have  fallen  asleep  in  Jesus,  and 
sing  and  shout  in  heaven ;  while  a  few,  and  compar- 
atively very  few  of  us  old  soldiers,  linger  on  the 
shores  of  time,  still  fighting  under  the  banners  of 
Christ;  and  our  motto  is,  ''Victory,  or  death!" 

Our  next  annual  conference  sat  in  Paris,  Edgar 
county,  Illinois,  September  23,  1846  ;  Bishop  Ham- 
line  presiding.  Our  next,  at  Jacksonville,  Morgan 
county,  Illinois,  September  22,  1847  ;  Bishop  AVaugh 
presiding.  During  the  three  years  I  was  on  the 
Bloomington  district  we  had  general  peace  and  some 
considerable  prosperity.  During  the  last  conference 
year  that  I  was  on  this  district,  some  incidents  oc- 
curred, which  I  will  relate. 

My  winter's  round  of  quarterly  meetings  com 
mcnccd  at  Bloomington  ;  brother  Samuel  Elliott  was 
preacher  in  charge,  and  it  was  his  second  year.  There 
had  fallen  a  very  deep  snow,  which  had  greatly  blocked 
up  thft  roads ;  and  by  some  strange  forgetfulness  in 
me,  I  started  for  my  Bloomington  quarterly  meeting 
a  week  too  soon ;  it  was  very  cold,  and  I  had  an  open 
bleak  prairie  to  travel  through.  The  first  day  I  rode 
about  forty  miles,  and  late  in  the  evening  I  arrived 
at  a  very  friendly  brother's  house,  but,  behold!  when 
I  went  in,  I  found  a  large  company,  consisting  of 
parts  of  seveial  families,  that  had  taken  sheUer  under 
this  friendly  roof,  from  the  severe  cold  and  pitibs* 
storm  of  snow  that  had  fallen;  but  all  \va»  as  pleasa.. 


PET  Eli    CARTW  RIG  IT.  447 

as  could  be  expected  in  a  crowd,  in  very  cold  wrather. 
AY  hen  \ve  came  to  retire  to  rest,  it  was  found  that  all 
the  beds  had  to  be  put  into  requisition,  to  accommo- 
date the  females;  what  was  to  be  done  with  the  five 
or  six  men  of  us  that  composed  a  part  of  the  company? 
Our  accommodation  was  cared  for  in  something  like 
the  following  way.  A  large  fire  was  made  up,  and 
plenty  of  wood  brought  in  to  keep  it  up  all  night. 
Large  buffalo  robes  and  quilts  were  spread  down  be- 
fore the  fire,  and  plenty  of  blankets  and  quilts  for 
covering;  and  after  praying  together,  we  all  retired 
to  rest,  and  though  our  bedding  was  hard,  we  slept 
soundly. 

Rising  early  next  morning,  I  mounted  my  horse, 
and  started  on  my  way  to  Waynesville,  a  little 
village  which  gave  name  to  one  of  my  circuits. 
Brother  John  A.  Brittenham  was  preacher  in  charge. 
He  saluted  me  in  good  brotherly  style,  and  inquired 
which  way  I  was  traveling.  I  informed  him  I  was 
bound  for  the  Bloomington  quarterly  meeting.  He 
said,  "That  meeting  is  not  till  Saturday  week;  so 
brother  Elliott  informs  me." 

I  was  surprised,  and  immediately  turned  to  the 
District  Book,  and  found  it  even  so.  Well,  what  was 
now  to  be  done?  Shall  1  retrace  my  steps,  two  days, 
back  home ;  and  then  travel  over  this  dreary,  cold 
road  here  again?  Or  what  shall  I  do?  Said  brother 
Brittenham, 

"  Stay  with  us,  and  let  us  have  meeting  every  night 
till  just  time  for  you  to  reach  your  quarterly  meeting 
in  Bloomington." 

"  Agreed,"  said  I. 

This  was  a  very  wicked  little  village.  The  Church 
wa>.  feeble,  and  greatly  needed  a  revival.  We  sent 
out,  ai  t!  gathered  a  small  congregation,  and  ined  to 


448  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

preach  to  them ;  and  there  were  some  signs  of  good. 
Next  night  our  congregation  was  considerably  larger, 
with  increasing  evidences  of  good.  The  third  night 
our  house  was  not  sufficient  to  hold  the  congregation ; 
and  there  were  mighty  displays  of  the  power  of  God. 
Some  shouted  aloud  the  praise  of  God;  some  wept. 
Our  altar  was  crowded  with  mourners,  and  several 
souls  were  converted;  but,  notwithstanding,  the 
place  was  made  awful  by  reason  of  the  power  of 
God;  some  mocked  and  made  sport.  Among  these 
were  two  very  wicked  young  men,  ringleaders  in 
wickedness.  After  interrupting  the  congregation,  and 
profanely  cursing  the  religious  exercises  of  the  people 
of  God,  they  mounted  their  horses,  and  started  home. 
After,  or  about  the  time  of  their  starting  home,  they 
made  up  a  race  for  a  trifling  sum,  or  a  bottle  of 
whisky,  and  started  off,  under  whip,  at  full  speed; 
but  had  not  run  their  horses  far,  till  the  horse  of  the 
most  daring  and  presumptuous  of  those  young  men 
flew  the  track,  and  dashed  his  rider  against  a  tree, 
knocked  the  breath  out  of  him,  and  he  never  spoke 
again.  Thus,  unexpectedly,  this  young  man,  with  all 
his  blasphemous  oaths  still  lingering  on  his  lips,  was 
suddenly  hurried  into  eternity,  totally  unprepared  to 
meet  his  God. 

The  tidings  of  this  awful  circumstance  ran  with 
lightning  speed  through  the  village  and  country 
round;  an  awful  panic  seized  upon  the  multitude, 
and  such  weeping  and  wailing  among  his  relatives 
and  people  at  large,  I  hardly  ever  beheld  before. 
There  was  no  more  persecution  during  the  protracted 
meeting  which  lasted  for  many  days ;  and  it  seemed, 
at  one  time,  after  this  calamity  had  fallen  on  this 
young  man,  that  the  whole  country  was  in  an  agony 
for  salvation.  Many,  very  many,  professed  religioi 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  449 

and  joined  the  Church,  but   the  exact  number  I  do 
not  now  recollect. 

Before  our  meeting  closed  here,  brother  Elliott, 
who  had  kept  up  a  series  of  meetings  in  Bloomington, 
preparatory  to  the  quarterly  meeting — which  meetings 
had  been  greatly  blessed — met  me  in  AVaynesville,  aid 
we  returned  to  the  battle-field  in  Bloomington  agahi, 
Our  meetings  were  recommenced,  and,  with  constantly- 
increasing  interest,  were  kept  up  night  and  day  for  a 
considerable  length  of  time.  Many  were  convicted, 
reclaimed,  converted,  and  built  up  in  the  most  holy 
faith.  Of  the  number  of  conversions  and  accessions 
to  the  Church  I  do  not  now  remember,  but  it  occurs 
to  me  that  it  was  seventy  or  eighty.  Brother  Elliott's 
labors  were  greatly  blessed  in  this  charge,  the  last 
year  of  his  pastoral  labors  there. 

Another  incident  occurred,  while  I  was  on  this  dis- 
trict, which  I  feel  disposed  to  name.  There  were  a 
good  many  settlements  and  'neighborhoods  in  the 
bounds  of  the  district  where  the  people  had  become, 
in  opinion,  Universalists,  and,  judging  from  theii 
morality,  or  rather  their  immorality,  this  doctrine 
suited  them  well ;  and  it  is  a  little  strange,  but  no 
stranger  than  true,  I  say,  without  any  fear  of  contra- 
diction, the  most  of  these  Universalists  had  been 
members  of  some  Christian  Church,  and  had  back 
slidden  and  lost  their  religion,  if  ever  they  had  any. 
In  the  course  of  my  peregrinations  I  fell  in  with  one 
of  their  preachers,  who  really  thought  himself  a 
mighty  smart,  talented  man,  and  was  ready  for  debate, 
in  public  or  private,  on  all  occasions.  His  assumed 
boldness  gave  him  great  consequence  with  his  hood- 
winked disciples.  He  was  very  loquacious,  and  hud 
some  clumsy  play  on  words.  After  conversing  with 
him  a  few  minutes,  I  took  my  line,  common  sense,  and 
2U 


450  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

sounded  liini.  ITc  affected  to  liave  great  veneration 
fur  invgray  hairs;  but  I  soon  found  hi.s  veneration  for 
my  gray  hairs  arose  mcfrc  from  a  fear  of  my  gray 
arguments  than  otherwise.  lie  was  a  man  of  slender 
constitution,  and  had  been,  and  was  then,  greatly 
afflicted  with  sore  eyes,  arid  was  threatened  with  tho 
total  loss  of  sight.  He,  in  the  course  of  our  conver- 
sation, said  there  could  not  be  any  such  being  as  a 
personal  devil,  who  could  be  every-where  present  at 
one  and  the  same  time,  tempting  mankind  to  evil;  and 
as  for  a  future  place  of  punishment  called  hell,  there 
was  no  such  place;  that  the  temptations  of  man  arose 
from  his  fallen  nature  and  not  from  the  devil,  and 
the  punishment  that  man  would  suffer  for  his  evil 
doings  he  suffered  in  this  life,  and  these  sufferings  con- 
sisted in  the  compunctions  of  conscience  for  his  moral 
delinquencies,  and  his  bodily  afflictions. 

"  Well,"  said  I,  "  my  dear  sir,  if  your  argument  is 
«,  sound  one,  I  must  draw  very  unfavorable  conclusions 
«i  reference  to  the  magnitude  of  your  crimes." 

"Why  so?"  responded  he. 

"Well,  sir,  for  a  very  good  reason.  As  to  your 
moral  delinquencies,  and  your  compunctions  of  con- 
science, they  are  best  known,  perhaps,  to  yourself; 
but  as  to  your  bodily  afflictions,  as  a  punishment,  1 
think  I  can  draw  very  fair  inferences,  for  I  can  not 
conceive  of  a  greater  bodily  affliction  than  the  loss  of 
eight;  and  as  your  vision  is  almost  gone,  and  you 
have  expressed  your  firm  belief  that  you  will  lose 
your  sight  altogether,  I  must,  if  your  doctrine  be  true, 
number  you  among  the  greatest  sinners  on  earth,  for 
God  is  too  wise  to  err,  and  too  good  to  inflict  un- 
deserved punishment."  I  tell  you  his  stars  and  stripes 
were  not  only  dropped  to  half  mast,  but  trailed  in  the 
dost. 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  451 

There  \vere  some  evil  reports  about  this  preacher 
and  a  certain  landlord's  lady  who  kept  public  enter- 
tainment. Another  Methodist  minister  and  myself 
called  to  stay  all  night  at  this  house,  as  we  were  on  a 
journey.  The  landlord  was  from  home.  '  We  were 
known  to  this  lady,  but  she  charged  us  tolerably  high, 
and,  Universalist  as  she  was,  I  think  her  conscience 
smote  her  a  little  for  charging  preachers,  and  she 
began  to  make  a  kind  of  apology  for  doing  so.  She 
said,  "Mr.  Cartwright,  I  suppose  you  will  think  it  a 
little  strange  that  I  charge  Methodist  preacherr ,  but 
you  need  not,  for  I  charge  my  own  preacher,  Mr. ." 

"  0,  no,  madam,"  said  I ;  "  not  at  all,  not  at  all.  If 

reports  about  you  and  Mr. ,  your  preacher,  be 

true,  such  a  course,  perhaps,  is  right,  and  I  have 
money  enough  to  pay  all  Universalist  bills,  and  they 
ought  to  have  it,  for  all  the  happiness  they  will  ever 
see  is  in  this  life ;  there  is  none  for  them  in  the  life  to 
come.''  You  may  depend  upon  it  apologies  ceased, 
and  a  dumb  dispensation  came  over  our  fair  hostess. 

Now,  who  does  not  see,  from  these  rather  desultory 
incidents,  the  legitimate  fruits  of  a  false  foundation 
that  proposes  to  save  all  mankind,  irrespective  of  the 
moral  temperament  of  the  heart?  or,  in  other  words, 
who  does  not  see  the  fatal  error  of  the  fallacious  argu- 
ments that  go  to  prove  the  final  salvation  of  all  man- 
kind, without  repentance  toward  God  and  faith  in  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ?  How  many  poor,  self-deluded 
souls  are  leaning  on  this  broken  staff,  and  will  never 
be  awakened  to  a  sense  of  their  true  condition  tiP 
they  hear  the  dreadful  communication:  "The  great 
day  of  His  wrath  has  come,  and  who  shall  be  abfe 
to  "stand!" 

In  tbe  fall  of  1847,  at  our  annual  conference,  b 
Jacksonville,  our  election  of  delegates  to  the  Genera) 


452  A  UT  OB  I  00  RAP  II  Y    OF 

conference  that  sat  in  Fittsburg  in  1848,  came  off, 
»nd,  for  the  ninth  time,  it  pleased  the  members  of  the 
conference  to  return  me  one  of  its  delegates.  This 
General  conference  was,  on  many  accounts,  a  very 
interesting  one,  and  especially  on  account  of  the  state 
of  things  that  had  grown  up  under  the  late  rupture  in 
the  Church.  The  Southern  preachers  had  gone  from 
the  General  conference  of  1844,  with  predetermina- 
tion to  renounce  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  which  was  all  planned  and  determ- 
ined on  before  the  delegates  left  New  York.  This 
is  a  fact  clearly  settled,  and  admits  of  no  doubt.  But 
how  does  this  course  of  conduct  agree  with  the  solemn 
pledges  publicly  given  to  the  General  conference  by 
tlie  Southern  delegates,  that,  on  their  return  home  to 
their  different  fields  of  labor,  they  would,  if  possible, 
allay  the  agitation  in  the  south?  and  if  there  was  a 
rupture,  it  should  be  of  imperious  necessity,  and  not 
of  choice?  Did  they  do  this?  Was  there  a  single 
Christian  effort  put  forth  to  accomplish  this?  0,  no! 
never,  never!  But  a  very  different  course  was  pur- 
sued. The  tocsin  of  war  was  sounded;  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  was  denounced  as  an  abolition 
Church,  and  the  cry  of  self-defense  was  heard  every- 
where, from  Virginia  to  Florida  and  Louisiana.  To 
arms!  to  arms!  ye  great  American  people,  or  these 
abolitionists  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  will  be 
down  upon  you,  and  come  and  steal  all  our  negroes! 
The  convention  at  Louisville  was  called,  a  con- 
vention of  delegates  from  the  slaveholding  confer- 
ences; and  the  delegates  appeared  in  regular  uni- 
form, equipped  and  armed  according  to  law.  The 
y<»ke  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  a  ram- 
pant abolition  Church,  was  thrown  off;  a  separate 
organization  was  formed:  their  General  confer- 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  453 

ence  was  appointed ;  Bishop  Soule  seceded  from  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  went  over  and  joined 
them,  and  acted  as  generalissimo.  Bishop  Andrew, 
unhurt  by  the  dreadful  extra-judicial  act  of  the  aboli- 
tion General  conference  of  1844,  appears  with  all  his 
pontifical  robes,  shining  rather  brighter  by  the  aboli- 
tion rubbing  that  he  had  gotten ;  two  more  slave- 
holding  bishops  elected;  a  jubilant  song  was  sung  to 
the  tune  and  words  of,  Farewell  to  abolitionists,  negro 
stealers,  and  all  the  croakers  of  the  north.  And, 
after  heaping  upon  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
all  kinds  of  abuse,  and  every  opprobious  epithet 
that  the  fiery  burning  vocabulary  of  the  South  could 
afford,  the  Southern  General  conference,  in  the  plen- 
itude of  their  goodness  and  wisdom,  sent  a  delegate 
to  the  General  conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  held  in  Pittsburg,  in  1848,  asking  a  mutual 
and  reciprocal  fraternization  between  the  Church, 
North,  as  they  misnamed  us,  and  the  Church  South. 
Now,  unprejudiced  reader,  what  do  you  think  of  this? 
A  better  man  and  a  better  Christian  gentleman  the 
whole  south  did  not  afford  than  Dr.  Pierce,  their 
messenger  on  this  embassy ;  but  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  was  caricatured,  abused,  slandered,  and 
in  every  sense  maltreated  by  the  South ;  and  while 
they  were  wounded  and  bleeding  at  every  pore,  is  it 
to  be  wondered  at  that  this  embassy  failed,  and  that 
every  single  member  of  the  General  conference  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  1848  voted  against 
fraternization  ?  If  they  would  undo  the  wrongs  they 
had  inflicted,  and  take  back  their  hard  speeches,  and 
bind  themselves  to  a  Christian  course  in  future,  then, 
and  not  till  then,  could  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  think  of  a  Christian  fraternization. 

The  constitutional  vote  having  failed  to  be  obtained 


454  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

from  the  annual  conferences,  in  order  to  render  valid 
at.  alteration  of  the  sixth  restrictive  feature  of  the 
constitution,  laid  down  in  our  Discipline,  all  the 
doings  of  the  General  conference  of  1844,  with  re- 
spect to  a  division  of  the  Church,  the  property  or 
funds  of  the  Church,  or  a  line  of  separation,  were,  to 
all  intents,  purposes,  and  constructions,  null  and  void; 
but  still  the  General  conference  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  of  1848  were  unwilling  that  any 
act  on  their  part  should  be  wanting  to  settle  peace- 
ably these  Church  difficulties ;  they,  therefore,  asked 
again  the  concurrent  three-quarter  vote,  of  all  the 
annual  conferences,  to  a  peace  measure,  to  stop  all,  or 
prevent  any  litigation  on  the  property  question  ;  but 
before  our  bishops  had  time  to  submit  this  measure  to 
the  annual  conferences  that  remained  firm  in  the 
union  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  the  South- 
ern Commissioners  commenced  a  suit,  thereby  render- 
ing all  peaceful  constitutional  efforts  on  her  part  vain. 
The  unjust  decisions  on  these  suits  are  well  known, 
and  will  form  part  and  parcel  of  the  history  of  our 
country,  and  especially  of  the  unjust  judicial  decisions 
of  the  court  against  the  Church. 

At  the  conference  held  at  Jacksonville,  September 
22,  1847,  my  appointment  was  to  the  Springfield 
district,  which  was  composed  of  the  following  ap- 
pointments, namely  :  Springfield  station,  Taylorsville, 
Sangamon,  Petersburg,  Beardstown,  Carlinville,  Hills 
boro,  and  Sharon  mission.  During  this  confer- 
ence year,  1847—48,  we  had  some  splendid  revivals, 
and  an  increase  of  over  five  hundred  members  in 
Springfield,  under  the  faithful  labors  of  brother  J.  F. 
Jaquess.  Great  good  was  done,  and  many  souls  weie 
converted  and  added  to  the  Church  ;  and,  although 
some  of  these  promising  youths  that  joined  £he  Church, 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  455 

nnder  hopeful  prospects,  through  persecution  and 
other  unfavorable  causes,  fell  back  into  their  old 
habits,  and  made  shipwreck  of  faith,  a  number 
stood  firm,  and  ornamented  their  profession,  and  one 
of  them  is  now  an  acceptable  traveling  preacher  in 
the  Illinois  conference.  Taylorsville  mission  shared, 
in  a  considerable  degree,  this  year,  in  revival  in- 
fluence, under  the  labors  of  L.  C.  Pitner,  preacher  in. 
charge.  In  Petersburg  there  was  also  a  good  work, 
and  a  considerable  number  converted,  and  a  very 
neat  church  erected,  that  does  honor  to  the  village, 
under  the  industrious  eiforts  of  Benjamin  Newman, 
preacher  in  charge. 

In  the  fall  of  1848  our  conference  was  held  in 
Belleville,  St.  Clair  county,  Illinois;  Bishop  Morris 
presiding.  In  the  course  of  this  year  there  was  a 
good  religious  influence  felt  in  the  Sangamon  circuit, 
especially  in  several  of  the  southern  appointments, 
that  are  now  included  in  the  Chatham  circuit.  W.  S. 
M'Murray  was  very  successful  here  in  winning  over 
to  Christ  many  precious  souls.  There  were  many 
conversions,  and  large  additions  to  the  Church;  and 
though  he  has  gone  to  his  reward,  he  will  long  live  in 
the  affections  of  many  in  the  bounds  of  the  then  San- 
gamon circuit.  He  succeeded  in  erecting  a  decent 
church  on  Sugar  creek,  and  the  society  honored  him 
in  calling  it  "  M'Murray  Chapel" 

Brother  M'Murray,  his  wife,  and  three  of  his  chil 
drcn,  were  all  violently  attacked  with  the  cholera, 
and  in  a  few  days  of  each  other,  they  fell  victims 
to  its  violence ;  but  he  will  long  live  in  the  affec- 
tions and  remembrance  of  many,  especially  of  those 
whom  he  was  the  instrument,  under  God,  of  convert- 
ing Peace  to  his  memory !  and  may  the  Lord 
take  care  «of,  and  provide  for  the  three  orphan 


456  AtTTOBTOWRAI'KT    OP 

children    that    brother    and    sister    M'Murray    lort 
behind ! 

In  the  fall  of  1849  our  conference  was  held  in 
Quincy,  Adams  county,  Illinois;  Bishop  Janes  pre- 
siding. This  year  I  was  returned  to  the  Springfield 
district.  There  were  no  great  revivals  in  the  bounds 
of  the  district  this  year,  though  the  Church  in  the 
main  was  in  a  peaceful,  healthy  condition  ;  some  con- 
versions, and  some  increase  in  the  membership. 

I  beg  leave  here  to  devote  a  few  lines  in  giving  a  small 
sketch  of  our  German  work.  It  is  only  a  few  years 
since  it  pleased  God  to  awaken  and  convert  Dr.  Nast, 
now  editor  of  the  German  "  Apologist."  He  came 
to  America  a  German  rationalist,  or  infidel.  lie  was 
awakened  and  converted  under  the  labors  of  the 
ministry  of  the  Methodists.  He  was  soon  licensed  to 
preach,  and  was  the  first  German  missionary  to  thou- 
sands of  our  foreign  German  population.  God  soon 
gave  him  seals  to  his  ministry;  sent  his  awakening, 
convincing  power,  and  powerfully  converted  some  of 
his  countrymen.  He  also  raised  up  some  of  these 
new  converts  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  Germans; 
and  with  Dr.  Nast  and  his  co-laborers  the  German 
mission  started.  Soon,  circuits  were  formed,  and  the 
work  of  God  spread  through  Ohio,  Indiana,  Missouri, 
and  Illinois.  God  raised  up  faithful  and  able  German 
preachers,  to  carry  the  tidings  of  salvation  to  their 
erishing  countrymen  that  were  here,  or  coming  b} 
he  thousand  to  America.  Many  who  were  Catholics 
Lutherans,  rationalists,  and  infidels,  were  happil^ 
converted  to  God;  the  work  spread  and  increased, 
till  stations,  circuits,  and  districts  were  formed,  and 
are  still  forming;  and  they  come  the  nighcst  to  old- 
fashioned,  or  primitive  Methodism,  of  any  people  1 
ever  saw. 


PETEK    CAIlTWKinnT.  457 


I  was  once  in  conversation  with  brother  Jacoby, 
and  advising  him  to  Americanize  his  German  Meth- 
odists, when  he  said  to  me,  "There  are  three  things 
that  must  be  done  to  a  German  before  you  can  get 
him  right.  He  must  first  be  converted  in  his  head, 
for  his  head  is  wrong.  Secondly,  he  must  be  con- 
verted in  his  heart,  for  his  heart  is  wrong.  Then, 
thirdly,  he  must  be  converted  in  his  purse,  for  his 
undue  love  of  money  makes  his  purse  wrong.  If," 
said  he,  "  we  can  convert  him  in  all  these  respects, 
we  can  soon  Americanize  him  and  make  a  good  Meth- 
odist out  of  him,  and  then  he  will  stick." 

It  will  be  remembered  that  these  Germans  in  the 
west  all  belong  to  the  Ohio,  Indiana,  Rock  River. 
and  Illinois  conferences.  They  are  doing  great  good, 
and  have  been  greatly  prospered  by  the  Lord.  Thou- 
sands of  the  Germans  can  be  reached  by  preachers 
of  their  own  language,  that  can  never  be  reached  by 
English  preachers.  They  need  our  aid  and  encour- 
agement. Let  us  hold  them  up,  and  the  good  they 
are  destined  to  do,  and  the  hundreds  of  thousands  that 
they  may  be,  and  will  be,  instrumental  in  bringing  to 
the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  are  far  beyond  our  most 
sanguine  calculations.  Many  of  them  are  poor,  and 
many  avaricious,  and  either  can  not  or  will  not  sup- 
port the  Gospel  till  they  are  converted  ;  then  they 
will  gladly  and  cheerfully  give  according  to  their 
Ability,  and  by  our  aiding  them  now,  and  supporting 
missionaries  to  labor  in  these  missionary  fields  till 
they  aj  e  converted  and  able  to  become  self-support- 
ing, we  shall  do  a  good  work. 

What  a  blessing  it  is  to  have  ministers  to  meet 
those  foreigners  when  they  land  on  our  shores,  and 
tender  them  salvation  in  their  own  language!  I  do 
not  believe  we  can  invest  nur  missionary  donations 


458  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

so  as  to  do  as  much  good  any  where  else  as  by  applying 
it  to  the  support  of  ministers  to  preach  to  all  foreign- 
ers that  are  crowding  to  our  happy  country  ;  and,  by 
the  by,  this  is  a  much  chenper  plan  than  to  fit  mission 
aries  to  go  to  foreign  lands,  and  there  undergo  thetedi 
ous  process  of  learning  their  languages,  or  of  preaching 
to  them  through  an  interpreter  ;  and  our  missionary 
appropriations  will  go  further,  and  accomplish  more 
good.  And  when  I  consider  the  good  already  done 
among  the  foreign  population  that  are  here  in  our 
midst  from  different  nations,  it  gladdens  my  heart.  I 
have  been  a  close  observer  of  the  effect  the  Gospel 
has  had  upon  these  foreigners,  so  far  as  they  have 
come  under  the  influence  of  the  usages  of  the  Meth- 
odist Church.  Their  close  attendance  on  and  atten- 
tion to  class  meetings,  prayer  meetings,  love-feasts, 
family  prayer,  and,  in  a  word,  all  the  means  of  grace, 
are  worthy  of  all  commendation  ;  for  I  know  close 
attention  to  these  means  of  grace  is  the  reason  of  the 
great  success  of  the  Methodist  Church  in  other  and 
former  years ;  and  the  want  of  attention  to  these 
duties  in  our  members  now,  is  the  grand  cause  of  the 
deadnoss  and  barrenness  of  the  Church. 

In  the  fall  of  1850,  September  18th,  our  conference 
was  held  in  Bloomington,  M'Leim  county,  Illinois; 
Bishop  Ilamline  presiding.  During  this  conference 
year  one  of  our  old,  well-tried,  and  faithful  preachers, 
Charles  Holliday,  had  fallen  a  victim  to  death.  1 
had  been  long  and  intimately  acquainted  with  him. 
We  had  long  lived  and  labored  together,  and  nothing 
contrary  to  Christian  love  ever  existed  between  us 
that  I  know  of.  I  was  called  upon  to  preach  his 
funeral  sermon  before  the  conference,  and  did  so  as 
best  I  could  from  the  short  and  unexpected  notice'giveu 
me  that  I  had  it  to  do,  and  perhaps  I  can  not  s.iy  an^ 


PETER    C  A  It  T  V  R  T  O  fl  T  .  459 

thing  about  this  good  old  brother  better  than  to  tran- 
scribe, substantially,  what  is  said  in  his  obituary, 
printed  in  our  General  Minutes,  namely : 

"Rev.  Charles  Holliday  died  March  8,  1850,  in 
his  seventy-ninth  year.  He  was  the  son  of  Janus 
and  Mary  Holliday,  and  was  born  in  the  city  of  Bal 
tirnore,  Maryland,  November  23,  1771.  His  parents 
were  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  They 
not  only  trained  him  up  in  its  doctrines  and  moral 
discipline,  but  his  education  was  conducted  with 
special  reference  to  his  entering  the  ministry  in  that 
Church.  His  parents  dying  while  he  was  in  his 
minority,  he  abandoned  the  idea  of  entering  the  min- 
istry, and  turned  his  attention  to  secular  pursuits. 
At  what  age  he  became  pious  we  have  no  specific  in- 
formation. In  the  month  of  May,  1793,  he  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Sarah  Watkins,  a  lady  of 
good  understanding,  sound  and  discreet  judgment, 
who  afterward  became  a  devoted,  pious,  and  faithful 
Christian.  The  day  after  they  were  married  they, 
in  company,  united  with  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  and  commenced  family  devotions  the  same 
evening.  In  1797  he  received  license  as  a  local 
preacher.  His  license  was  regularly  renewed  annu- 
ally from  that  time  till  September  30,  1809,  at  which 
time  he  was  admitted  on  trial  in  the  traveling  con- 
nection in  the  Western  conference,  and  appointed 
to  the  Danville  circuit.  In  October  of  the  san.e 
year  he  was  ordained  deacon  by  Bishop  Asbury.  In 
3 810 -he  was  appointed  to  the  Lexington  circuit, 
where  he  remained  two  years,  and  was  ordained 
elder  by  Bishop  M'Kendree,  October  11,  1811;  in 
1812  he  was  appointed  to  Shelby  circuit:  in  1813 
be  was  appointed  presiding  elder  of  Salt  River  dis- 
trict, where  he  remained  three  years;  in  July,  1810, 


460  AUTOBIOORAPTIY     OF 

being  bereaved  of  his  pious  nml  faithful  wife  by  death, 
•who  left  him  with  nine  children,  he  found  it  neces- 
sary to  locate.  The  certificate  of  his  location  is  dated 
September  7,  1816,  signed  by  Bishop  M'Kendree. 
In  the  former  part  of  the  year  1817  he  entered  into 
a  second  marriage  with  Miss  Elizabeth  Spears.  This 
lady,  who  still  lives,  proved  to  be  a  devoted  woman  and 
•wife,  and  a  kind  mother  and  faithful  guardian  to  his 
children.  His  family  being  now  provided  for,  he  was 
readmitted  into  the  traveling  work  in  1817,  and  ap- 
pointed to  the  Cumberland  district,  Tennessee  con- 
ference, where  he  remained  four  years.  From  1821 
to  1825  he  labored  as  presiding  elder  on  Green 
River  district,  Kentucky  conference;  in  the  fall  of 
1825  he  took  a  transfer  to  the  Illinois  conference, 
and  was  appointed  to  the  Wabash  district,  where  he 
continued  to  labor  till  the  meeting  of  the  General 
conference  of  1828,  at  which  time  he  received  the 
appointment  of  Book  Agent  at  Cincinnati,  in  which 
he  continued  eight  years.  At  the  close  of  his  term 
of  service  as  Book  Agent  he  was  transferred  to  the 
Illinois  conference,  and  in  1836  was  appointed  pre- 
siding elder  of  the  Lebanon  district,  where  he  con- 
tinued two  years.  He  was  appointed  presiding  elder 
on  the  Alton  district  in  1838,  which  was  the  last 
district  on  which  he  labored.  He  continued  in  an 
effective  relation  to  the  conference,  filling  such  small 
appointments  and  doing  such  work  as  his  declining 
strength  would  permit,  till  1846,  when  he  was  grant- 
ed a  superannuation,  and  in  this  relation  he  re- 
mained till  the  close  of  his  useful  life.  He  attended 
the  conference  in  Quincy  in  September,  1849.  On 
his  way  to  that  conference  he  was  attacked  with 
disease  of  the  kidneys,  from  which  he  never  recovered. 
Although  his  sufferings  in  this  his  last  illness  weie 


ETBR   CARTWRIQHT.  461 

extreme,  he  frequently  exulted  in  the  grace  of  our 
Jesus  Christ,  which  enabled  him  to  bear  so 
ranch  suffering  without  complaining.  He  retained 
his  reason  to  the  last.  It  had  been  his  practice  for 
thirty  years  to  pray  three  times  a  day  in  his  family, 
and  from  his  devotional  spirit  we  wonder  not  that  his 
sun  of  life  set  in  great  peace." 

In  summing  up  the  character  of  our  lamented 
brother  Holliday,  we  may  say,  that  there  are  few 
traits  of  real  excellence  that  he  did  not  possess  in  an 
eminent  degree.  As  a  preacher  he  was  clear,  sound, 
and  practical.  When  he  indulged  in  doctrinal  con- 
troversy, although  he  was  decided,  and  expressed  his 
views  in  strong  language,  he  was  always  kind  and 
loving  to  his  opponent;  in  all  the  relations  of  life  as 
a  husband,  a  father,  a  pastor,  a  friend,  a  companion, 
he  was  a  most  lovely  and  interesting  man,  and  in  the 
sufferings  and  disappointments  of  life  his  conduct  was 
characterized  by  that  "charity  that  suffcreth  long 
and  is  kind."  His  end  was  peace,  and  many  in  the 
day  of  eternity  will  rise  up  and  call  him  blessed. 
Thus  lived  and  thus  died  one  of  our  old  members  of  the 
:  :rn  conference,  the  only  conference,  at  the  time 
of  our  brother's  commencing  his  itinerant  life,  that 
was  in  this  natural  as  well  as  moral  waste,  or  in  the 
valley  of  the  Mississippi.  The  death  of  brother  Hol- 
liday  was  a  solemn  dispensation  to  me,  and  having  to 
preach  his  funenl  sermon  to  the  whole  conference,  as 
well  as  many  others,  and  having  but  a  few  minutes'  no- 
tice, and  no  time  to  prepare,  it  was  a  tremendous  cross, 
and  I  have  always  feared  that  I  did  not  do  justice 
to  the  life,  labors,  and  Christian  virtues  of  this  man 
of  God;  but  under  the  circumstances  I  did  the  best  I 
could,  and  ask  a  kind  indulgence  of  the  congregation 
for  all  the  defects  of  that  performance.  Let  us  unitedly 


462  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

join,  and  devoutly  pray,  "Let  me  die  the  death  of  the 
righteous,  and  let  my  last  end  be  like  his,"  as  said  tho 
text  on  that  occasion ;  and  if  this  prayer  is  answered, 
we  shall  soon  reach  the  place  where  funeral  dirges  are 
never  sung,  and  death  never  enters. 

In  the  fall  of  1851,  September  17th,  our  confer- 
ence sat  in  Jacksonville;  Bishop  Waugh  presiding. 
Jlcre  we  elected  our  delegates  to  the  General  con- 
ference whHi  was  to  sit  in  Boston,  May  1,  1852; 
and  although  the  Indiana  conference,  Rock  River, 
Iowa,  and  Wisconsin,  had  grown  up,  and  were  organ- 
ized into  separate  conferences  that  once  belonged  to 
the  Illinois  conference,  yet,  from  the  rapid  increase 
of  population  in  the  state,  and  from  the  increase  of 
members,  and  especially  the  increase  of  preachers, 
both  English  and  German,  it  was  found  indispensable 
to  divide  again,  and  form  a  Southern  Illinois  confer- 
ence; and  the  delegates  were  instructed  accordingly. 
It  pleased  the  conference  to  elect  me  as  one  of  this 
delegation.  This  was  the  tenth  time  I  had  been  hon- 
ored with  an  election  by  the  several  annual  confer- 
ences, of  which  I  was  a  humble  member,  to  repre- 
sent the  interests  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
in  the  General  conference. 

Bishop  Hedding,  our  honorable  senior  bishop,  who 
died  April  9,  1852,  was,  at  the  date  of  our  confer- 
ence,'fingering,  with  no  hope  of  surviving  but  a  few 
days.  Bishop  Hamline's  health  also  being  extremely 
precarious,  all  the  efficient  work  of  superintending 
the  interesting  concerns  of  the  whole  Church  devolv- 
ed on  Bishops  Waugh,  Morris,  and  Janes.  We  all 
knew  that  several  additional  bishops  must  be  elected 
at  our  General  conference  of  1852.  From  this  view, 
together  with  the  infirmities  of  increasing  years  of 
Bishop  Waugh,  he  delivered  us  a  very  impressive 


PETER    CARTWRIGDT.  46a 

address  at  the  close  of  the  Illinois  conference,  stating 
that  it  was  probable  this  was  the  last  time  he  should 
ever  preside  in  our  midst.  This  address  greatly  af- 
fected the  whole  conferenceyfor  the  Bishop  had  pre- 
sided among  us  with  great  acceptability,  and  we  hon- 
ored and  loved  him  greatly.  We  all  remembered 
that  our  beloved  Bishop  Waugh  had  gone  in  and  out 
among  us  blameless,  and  that  we  had  been  greatly  ben- 
efited by  his  counsels,  and  the  impartial  manner  in 
which  he  had  presided  among  us;  and  we  always 
found  him  orthodox  in  the  doctrines  and  discipline  of 
the  Church.  He  was  always  accessible  to  the  hum- 
West  preacher  or  member  among  us,  and  we  found 
him  to  be  what  I  believe  constitutes  an  old-fashioned 
Methodist  bishop;  he  raised  no  new  standards  in  doc- 
trine or  discipline,  but  urged  us  to  "  mind  the  same 
things,  and  walk  by  the  same  good,  old  Methodist 
rules."  So  may  all  our  bishops  do ! 

In  the  fall  of  1851,  my  four  years  having  expired  on 
the  Springfield  district,  I  was  appointed  to  the  Quincy 
district,  where  I  had  traveled  fifteen  years  before; 
then  my  district  extended  from  the  mouth  of  the  Illi- 
nois river  to  Galena,  and,  indeed,  as  far  north  as  was 
inhabited  by  the  whites ;  and  yet  further  still,  into  the 
Indian  country,  where  I  superintended  the  mission 
among  the  Pottawattomies.  My  district  was  then 
between  four  and  five  hundred  miles  from  north  to 
south,  and  I  suppose  would  average  one  hundred 
miles  from  east  to  west.  I  then  thought  the  district  a 
small  one,  for  when  I  was  first  appointed  to  a  district  in 
the  Illinois  conference,  in  the  fall  of  1826,  my  district 
commenced  at  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  .nver,  and 
extended  north  hundreds  of  miles,  and  was  not  limit- 
ed by  the  white  settlements,  but  extended  among 
the  great,  unbroken  tribes  of  uncivilized  aud  unchris- 


464  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

tianizcd  Indians;  but  now  in  1851  how  changed  was 
the  whole  face  of  the  country!  The  district  was 
composed  of  the  following  appointments,  namely: 
Quincy  station,  Columns,  Warsaw  mission,  Chili, 
Pulaski,  Rushville  station,  Rushville  circuit,  Havana, 
aid  Beardstown  station,  about  one  hundred  miles 
from  east  to  west,  and  I  suppose  would  average  from 
thirty  to  forty  from  north  to  south.  There  was  no 
district  parsonage  and  accommodations  near  its  center. 
I  lived  entirely  out  of  its  bounds,  and  had  the  Illinois 
river  to  cross  and  recross  five  or  six  times  each 
(juarter,  and  the  ravages  of  many  years  were  upon 
me,  so  that  I  found  it  as  hard  to  travel  this  small  dis- 
trict as  I  did  my  first  district  in  the  conference, 
which  covered  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  geograph- 
ical boundaries  of  the  state.  The  country  had  not 
only  greatly  changed,  in  rising  glory  and  strength, 
but  I  had  greatly  changed  also ;  my  strength  was  fail- 
ing, so  that  I  dreaded  a  journey  of  one  hundred  miles 
more  than  I  formerly  did  one  thousand.  I  was  well 
pleased  with  my  appointment  on  many  accounts.  I 
was  much  gratified  to  see  the  growing  improvements 
of  the  country ;  the  dense  population ;  the  great  in- 
crease in  the  membership  of  the  Church;  the  large 
spacious  churches  that  were  built;  and  in  addition  to 
all  this,  I  met  hundreds  that  I  had  taken  into  the 
Church  in  former  years,  when  a  new  country  tried 
men's  souls.  They  gave  me  a  cordial  reception,  and 
welcomed  back  their  old  presiding  elder,  and  gave 
me  unmistakable  evidence  of  their  friendship  and 
brotherly  love. 

But,  notwithstanding  all  this,  and  a  thousand  good 
things  that  I  could  say  with  truth  and  sincerity,  I 
found  that  Methodism,  in  some  places,  had  gone  to 
seed,  and  was  dying  out,  and,  to  use  our  backwoods 


PETER   CART  WRIGHT.  465 

language,  some  of  the  prominent  and  leading  members 
of  the  flock  had  become  butting  rams,  or  jumping 
ewes,  or  sullen  oxen,  or  kicking  mules.  These  things 
gave  us  trouble.  One  of  *my  preachers,  for  some 
cause  unknown  to  me,  had  become  greatly  prejudiced 
against  me;  he  was  appointed  this  year  to  the  War 
saw  Missionary  station.  This  young,  flourishing  little 
city  of  Warsaw  stands  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the 
Mississippi,  hard  by  the  Fort  Edward  military  post. 
We  had  a  small,  though  respectable  little  society 
here,  but  no  church  to  worship  in.  The  brethren 
had  rented  a  little,  old,  dilapidated  frame,  every  way 
unsuitable,  and  in  an  out-of-the-way  place.  The 
Presbvterians  had  a  small  church;  and  when  our 
quarterly  meeting  came  on,  they  offered  it  for  our 
use.  The  preacher  in  charge  accepted  the  offer,  but 
said  perhaps  we  might  protract  the  meeting.  They 
replied  we  might  have  it  as  long  as  we  pleased ;  we 
might  go  on  and  protract  the  meeting  if  we  saw  prop- 
er. The  family  of  my  preacher  I  was  not  acquainted 
with;  and  he,  being  prejudiced  against  me,  had  made 
a  bad  impression  on  the  mind  of  his  wife  against  inc. 
However,  she  came  to  meeting,  and  the  Lord  blessed 
her,  for  she  was  a  very  good  woman.  The  Lord  also 
reached  the  heart  of  their  interesting  little  daughter, 
and  she  joined  the  Church.  After  this,  the  preacher's 
wife  expostulated  with  him,  and  told  him  to  lay  asid.- 
his  prejudices  against  me,  alleging  that  I  must  be  .1 
good  man,  for  the  Lord  had  blessed  and  was  blessing 
my  labors  in  a  powerful  degree.  The  old  brother 
surrendered,  and  gave  up  his  prejudices,  and  we  be- 
came very  friendly. 

The  power  of  God  tell  on  the  congregation  almost 
every  coming  together;  and  we  had  crowded  congre- 
gations by  day  and  by  night.     Several  were  awakened 
30 


466  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

and  converted.  We  protracted  the  meeting,  and 
intended  to  extend  it  over  several  Sabbaths;  but  were 
cut  short  by  official  information  that  the  congregation 
•who  owned  the  church  wanted  to  use  it  themselves  af- 
ter Friday  night.  We  concluded  our  meeting,  thank- 
ful for  small  favors;  but  did  firmly  believe  that  this 
unceremonious  deprivation  of  the  Presbyterian  or 
Jongregational  church  arose  from  jealousy,  or  fear  of 
our  success.  If  we  judge  wrong  in  this  matter,  we 
devoutly  hope  to  be  forgiven  by  the  Lord. 

The  quarterly  meeting  which  we  have  been  speak- 
ing of  was  held  the  first  days  of  February,  1852. 

Our  expulsion  from  the  church  in  the  manner  above 
stated,  created  considerable  dissatisfaction,  and  pro- 
duced a  determination,  both  in  and  out  of  our  little 
society,  to  build  a  churcli  that  we  could  call  our  own, 
without  the  danger  of  being  turned  out  of  it  at 
any  time.  Accordingly,  a  lot  was  selected,  and 
a  subscription  opened  to  accomplish  this  desirable 
object,  and  from  the  amount  subscribed  by  the  citi- 
zens, together  with  several  hundred  dollars  obtained 
abroad,  we  succeeded  the  next  year  in  erecting  a  neat 
little  brick  church  to  worship  in;  and  our  quarterly 
meeting  the  next  year  was  held  in  it,  namely,  the  first 
Sabbath  in  February,  1853.  This  meeting  was  at- 
tended with  great  power.  James  I.  Davidson  was 
preacher  in  charge  this  year,  whose  labors  were 
greatly  blessed  and  owned  of  Cod.  J  tried  to  preach 
during  our  protracted  quarterly  meeting  about  ten 
times,  to  large  and  crowded  congregations.  Sinners 
were  deeply  convicted,  and  a  great  many,  I  verily 
believe,  obtained  religion.  Over  twenty  joined  the 
Church,  among  them  some  good,  respectable  citizens, 
whom  we  hope  to  meet  in  heaven,  anU  unite  in  prais- 
ing God  forever. 


P  A  T  E  R    C  A  K  T  W  R  I  G  It  T  .  467 

Bat  right  here  I  wish  to  say,  that  in  most  of  our 
revivals  many  men  and  women  of  bad  habits  and  ill- 
fame  become  operated  on,  profess  religion,  and  join 
the  Church.  This  has  long  been,  and  now  is,  a  great 
objection  by  many  to  these  revivals,  and  it  has  been 
the  cause  of  considerable  persecution  to  the  Church 
But  it  should  be  remembered  that  the  economy  of  the 
Church,  in  saving  souls,  is  compared  by  Jesus  Christ 
himself  to  a -fisherman  casting  his  net  into  the  sea, 
and  inclosing  a  multitude  of  fish,  both  good  and  bad. 
But  who  ever  condemned  the  fisherman,  because  his 
net  gathered  bad  as  well  as  good  fish  ?  or  who  ever 
drew  the  erroneous  conclusion  that  the  net  was  bad, 
because  there  were  some  bad  fish  inclosed  in  it?  The 
net  is  to  be  thrown,  the  fish,  bad  and  good,  are  to  be 
inclosed,  and  then  the  net  is  to  be  drawn  to  shore,  on 
dry  land,  and  all  alike,  both  good  and  bad,  taken 
from  their  natural  element.  Then,  and  not  till  then, 
the  process  of  assorting  them  is  to  commence. 

The  Methodist  Church,  in  our  humble  opinion, 
stands,  in  this  respect,  on  pre-eminently  Scriptural 
ground.  They  give  every  sinner  a  chance,  and  take 
them  on  probation  for  six  months,  not  as  members,  but 
under  the  care  of  the  Church,  on  trial  lor  membership  ; 
and  surely,  if  they  do  not  in  that  time  give  satisfactory 
evidence  of  their  sincerity  and  fitness  tor  membership, 
it  is  not  likely  they  ever  will.  Well,  if  they  do  not 
in  that  time  give  satisfactory  evidence  that  they  are 
in  good  earnest  in  seeking  their  salvation,  what  then  ? 
Expel  them  ?  No  ;  for  they  are  not  members  to  expel. 
What  then?  We  simply  drop  them,  and  consider 
them  no  longer  probationers  for  membership;  leave 
them  where  we  found  them  ;  jve  have  at  least  tried 
to  do  them  good,  and  have  done  them  no  harm. 
This  is  the  sufcty-val/e  of  he  Methodist  Episcopal 


*68  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

Church ;  six  months  on  trial  for  membership.  HOTI» 
dreadfully  have  other  sister  Churches  been  troubled 
in  their  mode  of  operation !  They  generally  believe 
that  a  Christian  can  never  fall  away  so  as  to  be  finally 
lost,  and  that  it  is  wrong  to  receive  any  into  the 
Church  who  are  not  Christians.  Well,  in  order  to  get 
people  into  the  Church,  they  are  often  found  hurry- 
ing them  into  a  profession  of  religion  when  they  have 
none  ;  and  then,  when  all  such  fall  away,  with  what 
astonishing  mortification  they  have  to  confess  they 
were  mistaken ;  that  these  souls  were  deceived ;  that 
they  never  had  any  religion  !  and  yet  they  hurl  their 
anathemas  at  Methodist  preachers  for  taking  persons 
as  probationers  for  membership  without  religion, 
while  they  have  actually  done  infinitely  worse,  for 
they  have  taken  them  into  the  Church  as  full  mem 
bers,  and  as  Christians  too,  when  they  were  not. 
Now,  if  our  economy  is  wrong,  what  must  theirs  be? 

God  bless  the  citizens  of  Warsaw,  and  increase 
their  mercies  a  hundred-fold,  for  the  many  acts  of 
kindness  shown  to  me  the  two  years  I  was  laboring 
among  them. 

In  the  fall  of  1&41  Milo  Butler,  a  transfer  from  the 
Michigan  conference,  was  appointed  to  the  pastoral 
charge  of  the  Quincy  City  station.  It  was  constituted 
a  station  under  my  former  presidency  in  the  Quincy 
district,  and  had  existed  as  a  station  for  more  than 
fifteen  years.  The  Church  had  ebbed  and  flowed, 
sometimes  in  prosperity  and  sometimes  in  adversity 
There  were  some  fine,  substantial  members  here ;  bu 
they  at  this  time,  1851,  were  in  a  cold  state,  evidently 
on  back  ground.  Brother  Butler  was  greatly  afflicted, 
and  so  were  his  family,  this  year.  He  labored  faith- 
fully, according  to  his  strength.  • 

We  had  a  small  refreshing  in  the  Church  this  win- 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  469 

ter,  chiefly  under  the  acceptable  labors  of  brother 
Wilson,  brother-in-law  to  Doctor  Butler.  L.  C.  Pit 
ner  was  appointed  to  Quincy  station  in  the  fall  of 
1852  ;  and  during  the  months  of  December,  1852,  and 
January,  1853,  a  glorious  revival  broke  out,  such  as 
had  never  been  in  Quincy  before.  It  really  seemed 
as  though  it  would  at  times  overwhelm  the  whole  city. 
High  and  low,  rich  and  poor,  old  and  young,  bowed 
before  the  mighty  power  of  God.  Many  of  almost  all 
kinds  of  education  became  the  subjects  of  the  convert 
ing  grace  of  God,  and  joined  the  Church ;  and  when 
our  second  quarterly  meeting  came  off,  in  January, 
our  church,  though  large,  was  filled  at  love-feast  to  its 
utmost  capacity.  The  city  mission  charge,  under  the 
pastoral  care  of  James  L.  Crane,  belonging  to  the 
Griggsville  district,  shared  .largely  in  this  blessed  re- 
vival, and  our  German  Methodist  Church  caught  the 
holy  fire ;  and  it  was  supposed  that  over  one  thousand 
were  converted  and  added  to  the  different  charges 
and  Protestant  Churches  in  the  city  of  Quincy  during 
this  happy  year.  Most  of  them  have  proved  faithful, 
and  are  honoring  the  profession  they  have  made ;  but 
some  of  them  have  fallen  asleep  in  Jesus,  and  are 
numbered  with  the  Church  above. 

During  the  two  years  I  was  on  this  district,  we  had 
good  times  in  Rushville  station  and  Rushville  cir- 
cuit, Ripley  mission,  Pulaski  and  Columbus  cir- 
cuits ;  a  number  were  converted  and  joined  the 
Church  in  all  these  places.  About  the  20th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1852,  we  had  a  camp  meeting  at  Sugar  Grove, 
in  the  bounds  of  the  then  Columbus  circuit.  Broth- 
ers J.  I.  Davidson,  Butler,  and  Pitner  came  to  our 
aid,  and  labored  like  men  of  God ;  but  what  was  bet- 
ter still,  the  l^ord  came  and  made  one  in  our  midst. 
The  word  was  preached  in  demonstration  of  the 


470  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

Spirit  and  the  power  of  God ;  the  Church  was 
greatlj  built  up,  and  many  sinners  were  convicted 
and  soundly  converted,  and  about  sixty  were  added 
to  the  Church. 

This  conference  year  was  a  great  and  prosperous 
one  to  the  Church  ;  and  the  two  years  I  spent  on  the 
Quincy  district  I  number  among  the  most  pleasant 
of  my  life.  Still  we  had  some  trials  and  disputes  iu 
che  Church  which  gave  us  trouble,  bait  the  Lord,  we 
trust,  overruled  all,  and  great  good  was  done ;  the 
Church  increased  in  numbers,  in  deep  piety,  in  close 
attention  to  her  peculiar  institutions  that  God  has  so 
long  blessed  and  prospered.  My  strength  was  failing 
from  increasing  years,  and  long  and  constant  itiner- 
ant labors  ;  I  lived  on  the  east  end  of  the  district, 
and  I  had  to  cross  the.  Illinois  river  very  often, 
which  in  winter  was  frequently  frozen  over  for 
months,  and  in  spring  the  banks  were  overflowed ; 
and  I  had  often  to  ferry  five  miles  across  the  water 
extending  from  bluff  to  bluff;  and  when  the  winds 
were  high,  I  have  been  detained  for  days  together, 
causing  me  to  risk  my  life,  and  to  miss  my  appoint- 
ments. Under  these  circumstances,  I  was  impelled 
to  ask  the  bishop  to  change  the  form  of  the  district, 
and  make  the  river  the  line. 

Our  conference  in  the  fall  of  1852  was  held  in  the 
town  of  Winchester,  Scott  county,  Illinois  ;  and  in  the 
fall  of  1853,  the  12th  of  October,  at  Beardstown,  Cuss 
county,  Illinois.  Bishop  Scott  was  our  presiding 
bishop,  and  a  pleasant  president  he  was.  It  .was  at 
this  conference  the  above  alteration  in  the  Quincy 
district  was  made,  and  the  Pleasant  Plains  district 
formed.  This  district  was  composed  of  the  fol- 
lowing appointments,  namely :  Beardstown  station, 
Meredosia  (now  Concord)  circuit,  Havana,  Jackson- 


PETER    CARTWRIOHT.  471 

rille  circuit,  Sangamon,  Virginia,  and  Island  Grove; 
a  very  pleasant,  convenient  little  district  indeed. 

I  had  now  been  a  traveling  preacher  for  more  than 
forty-nine  years,  and  was  sixty-eight  years  of  age.  I 
had  been  appointed  presiding  elder  by  Bishop  As- 
bury.  :it  the  first  Tennessee  conference,  held  in  Fount- 
ain Head,  in  the  fall  of  1812,  which  is  now  forty 
three  years  since  ;  and  in  all  these  forty-nine  years  ot 
my  life  as  a  traveling  preacher,  I  had  never  asked  of 
the  appointing  power  of  the  Church  for  any  appoint- 
ment, nor  for  anv  accommodation  in  an  appointment; 
and  although  some  of  my  brethren  have  thought  that 
I  was  greatly  favored  with  accommodating  appoint- 
ments, I  here  call  upon  all  the  bishops  that  have  given 
me  my  appointments  for  more  than  fifty  years  to  bear 
me  witness  that  the  appointments  given  me  by  them 
were  unasked  for  by  me. 

At  this  conference  at  Beardstown,  in  the  fall  of 
1853,  for  the  first  time  in  my  life,  I  did  ask  to  be  ap- 
pointed to  the  Pleasant  Plains  district,  if  appointed 
to  a  district  at  all,  but  at  the  same  time  said  I  would 
greatly  prefer  a  small  circuit.  Let  Bishop  Scott  and 
his  council  bear  witness  in  this  matter.  There  was 
another  strong  reason,  aside  from  my  age  and  infirm- 
ities, that  urged  me  to  ask  this  accommodation; 
namely,  that  I  might  gain  some  time  to  write  this 
sketch.  But,  alas !  leisure  time  to  write  seems  to  b« 
almost  out  of  the  question  with  me;  I  am  appointed 
on  so  many  conference  committees,  have  to  attend  so 
many  dedications  of  churches,  to  preach  so  many 
funeral  sermons,  besides  all  the  important  duties  of  the 
district,  that  leisure  time  with  me  is  a  very  rare  thing. 
And  such  have  been  my  Church  engagements,  and 
such  the  length  of  time  between  the  occasional  hours 
or  days  devoted  to  this  narrative,  that  when  I  have 


472  AFTOBIOGRAPtlY   OP 

recommcnccrl  writing  I  had  entirely  forgotten  what  1 
had  written  last,  especially  the  connection  of  subjects; 
and  this  has  cost  me  a  great  deal  of  labor  and  loss  of 
time  ;  hence  if  there  are  some  repetitions,  unconnected 
incoherences,  I  hope  they  will  be  regarded  and  in- 
spected with  this  motto  : 

"  That  mercy  I  to  others  show, 
That  mercy  show  to  inc." 

I  think  it  about  time  now  to  return  and  say  a  few 
things  about  our  General  conference  of  1852,  which 
sat  in  Boston.  When  in  Pittsburg,  at  the  General 
conference  of  1848,  the  New  England  brethren  plead 
ed  hard  for  the  General  conference  of  1852  to  be 
appointed  in  Boston,  they  alleged  that  New  England 
had  never  had  a  General  conference.  I  observed  to 
brother  Crandall,  and  other  New  Englanders,  rather 
jocosely,  that,  judging  from  the  Yankees  that  I  had 
seen  out  in  the  west,  I  was  a  little  afraid  to  venture 
myself  in  the  General  conference  among  the  Bos- 
tonians ;  for  almost  all  that  1  had  seen  in  the  west  had 
assumed  such  high  ground,  professed  such  mighty  edu- 
cational attainments,  that  we  poor  illiterate  western 
backwoods  preachers  could  hardly  hold  an  intelli- 
gible conversation  with  them ;  and  that  we  were 
afraid  to  start  any  proposition  whatever;  and  when 
we  met  them,  we  could  only  stand  and  look  at  them, 
and  make  ready  to  answer  questions. 

To  this  brother  Crandall  pleasantly  replied,  "  Why, 
sir,  you  have  never  seen  a  genuine  Yankee  in  the 
west;  those  you  have  seen  are  runaways,  or  pretend- 
ers, or  impostors  ;  they  are  an  adulterated  set  of  scape- 
gallows  fellows ;  but  come  to  Boston,  and  we  will 
show  you  a  real  live,  green  Yankee." 

"Very  well,"  said  I,  "  we'll  go  for  Boston." 


PETER   CARTWRIGUT.  473 

When  a  number  of  the  delegates  from  different 
conferences  met  in  New  York,  on  their  way  to  Boston, 
we  took  the  cars,  a  crowd  of  us  together,  and  on  our 
iron  horse  snorted  toward  the  land  of  the  Puritan 
metropolis,  leaving  the  Empire  City  and  State  far 
behind. 

Just  about  the  time  we  entered  the  limits  of  the 
state  of  Massachusetts,  our  conductor  proclaimed  a 
halt  of  ten  minutes;  I  dashed  out  without  my  hat;  1 
wanted  water,  and  as  I  had  no  relish  for  being  left  by 
the  cars,  I  ran  and  watered,  and  with  a  quick  step 
returned,  and  took  my  seat.  I  discovered  that  a  good 
many  of  the  preachers  were  indulging  in  a  hearty 
laugh,  and,  as  I  thought,  at  my  expense. 

Said  I,  "Gentlemen,  what  are  you  laughing  at?" 

One,  somewhat  composing  his  risibilities,  answered, 

"How  dare  you  enter  the  sacred,  classic  land  of  the 
Pilgrims  bareheaded  ?" 

"  My  dear  sir,"  said  I,  "  God  Almighty  crowded 
me  into  the  world  bareheaded,  and  I  think  it  no 
more  harm  to  enter  Massachusetts  bareheaded  than 
for  the  Lord  to  bring  me  into  the  world  without 
a  hat." 

There  were  several  ladies  sitting  hard  by,  though  1 
had  not  observed  them;  they  pulled  down  their  vails, 
and  chuckled  over  my  speech  for  miles.  When  we 
got  to  Boston,  I  expected  to  see  no  one  that  I  had 
ever  seen  but  a  few  of  the  Methodist  preachers  that  I 
had  become  acquainted  with  at  the  General  con- 
ferences of  former  days;  but  I  was  very  agreeably 
disappointed  in  this  respect,  and  especially  when  I 
learned  that  Mr.  Merrill,  with  whom  I  had  formed  a 
pleasant  acquaintance  at  M'Kcndree  College,  Illinois, 
some  years  past,  was  then  living  in  Boston,  and  had 
petitioned  for  Dr.  Akers  and  myself  to  board  with 


474  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

him  during  General  conference.  This  brother  Mer- 
rill was  the  son  of  Rev.  John  A.  Merrill,  a  fine  old 
Methodist  preacher  of  olden  times,  with  whom  I  had 
been  long  acquainted,  who  had  borne  the  glad  tidings 
of  the  Gospel  successfully  to  thousands;  witnessed  a 
good  confession,  lived  faithful,  died  happy,  and  has 
gone  safe  home  to  heaven.  I  found  myself  very 
agreeably  situated  in  this  kind  and  generous  family 
Brother  Merrill  was  intelligent,  easy,  and  pleasant  in 
conversation.  His  friendly  little  wife  was  kind, 
courteous,  and  easy  in  her  manners;  and  her  mother, 
a  fine,  intelligent  old  lady.  All  were  easy,  familiar, 
and  agreeable.  We  were  also  favored  with  the  com- 
pany of  brother  J.  F.  Jaquess,  who  was  collecting 
books  for  the  female  college  in  Jacksonville.  My 
fear  was,  that  I  would  get  into  a  family  that  were 
cold,  stiff,  and  distant  in  their  manners.  One  of 
these  formal,  distant,  ceremonious  families  was  always 
a  prison  to  me,  and  well  calculated  to  make  me  feel 
unhappy,  and  far  from  home;  but  it  was  otherwise 
here. 

The  second  Sabbath  in  Boston  I  was  appointed  to 
preach  at  Church-Street  Church  at  eleven  o'clock.  I 
took  for  the  text,  Hebrews  x,  22.  We  had  a  large 
congregation;  several  preachers  present;  and  sup- 
posing that  most  of  my  congregation  had  hardly 
ever  seen  or  heard  of  me,  and  that  they  were  an 
educated  people,  and  had  been  used  to  great  preach- 
ing, I  put  on  all  the  gravity  that  I  well  could  com- 
mand; I  tried  to  preach  one  of  my  best  sermons,  in  a 
plain,  grave,  sober  manner ;  and,  although  I  never 
thought  myself  a  great  preacher,  yet  I  really  thought 
I  had  done  very  near  my  best  that  time.  Well,  when 
I  came  down  from  the  pulpit,  a  brother  preacher  in- 
troduced me  to  several  of  the  prominent  members  of 


PETER    CARTWEIGHT.  475 

the  congregation;  and  as  I  was  introduced  to  them, 
they  asked  me  very  emphatically, 

"Is  this  Peter  Cartwright,  from  Illinois,  the  old 
western  pioneer?" 

I  answered  them,  "Yes,  I  am  the  .very  man." 

"Well,"  said  several  of  them,  "brother,  we  are 
much  disappointed;  you  have  fallen  very  much  under 
our  expectations;  we  expected  to  hear  a  much  greater 
sermon  than  that  you  preached  to-day." 

"Well,  brethren,"  said  I,  "how  can  it  be  helped? 
I  did  as  well  as  I  could,  and  was  nearly,  at  the  top  of 
my  speed." 

I  tell  you  this  was  cold  encouragement;  I  felt  great 
mortification;  I  hastened  to  my  room  and  prayed 
over  it  awhile.  That  night  they  had  appointed  me  to 
preach  at  North  Russell-street.  There  was  a  full  con- 
gregation, and  a  good  many  preachers  present.  I  read 
for  the  text,  Job  xxii,  21.  I  had  asked  God  for  help; 
and  when  I  took  my  text  I  determined  to  do  my  very 
Lest,  and  did  so;  but  failed,  as  in  the  forenoon,  to 
meet  the  expectations  of  the  people.  And  as  I  came 
down  into  the  altar  I  was  again  introduced  to  some 
of  the  brethren;  and  although  they  did  seem  to  doubt 
that  I  was  Peter  Cartwright  from  the  west,  the  old 
pioneer,  yet  they,  in  cold  blood,  informed  me  that  I 
had  fallen  under  their  expectations,  and  as  good  as 
told  me  that  my  sermon  was  a  failure.  Now,  was  not 
this  too  bad?  I  tell  you  they  roused  me,  and  pro 
voked  what  little  religious  patience  I  had;  and  I 
rather  tartly  replied  to  one,  that  I  could  give  people 
ideas,  but  I  could  not  give  them  capacity  to  receive 
those  ideas,  and  left  them  abruptly;  and  in  very 
gloomy  mood  retreated  to  my  lodgings,  but  took  but 
little  rest  in  sleep  that  night.  I  constantly  asked  my- 
self this  question,  Is  it  so,  that  I  can  not  preach?  or 


476  AUTOBlOGftAPIIY   OF 

what  is  the  matter?  I  underwent  a  tremendous  cru- 
cifixion in  feeling. 

The  next  day  I  told  Dr.  Cummings  not  to  give  me 
any  other  appointment  in  Boston  during  the  General 
conference,  "for,"  said  I,  "your  people  here  have  not 
got  sense  enough  to  know  a  good  sermon  when  they 
hear  it." 

The  Sabbath  following  I  spent  in  Lynn,  and  had 
good  meetings;  then  I  went  the  next  Sabbath  to  Fall 
River,  and  preached  for  brothers  Allen  and  Upham, 
and  had  a  pleasant  time.  Some  time  in  the  following 
week,  old  brother  Taylor  came  to  me  and  told  me  I 
must  preach  at  his  church  the  next  Sabbath,  at  the 
Bethel  charge;  and  said,  Dr.  Akers  and  brother  J.  F. 
Wright  had  both  tried  to  preach  in  his  church,  and 
both  failed;  "and,"  said  he,  "you  are  the  forlorn 
hope.  If  you  flash,  no  other  western  preacher  shall 
preach  in  my  church  any  more  during  the  General 
conference." 

Said  I,  "Brother  Taylor,  you  need  not  think  that 
any  of  us  western  men  are  anxious  about  preaching 
to  you  in  Boston;  your  way  of  worship  here  is  so 
different  from  ours  in  the  west,  that  we  are  confused. 
There  's  your  old  wooden  god,  the  organ,  bellowing  up 
in  the  gallery,  and  a  few  dandified  singers  lead  in 
singing,  and  really  do  it  all.  The  congregation 
won't  sing,  and  when  you  prav,  they  sit  down  instead 
of  kneeling.  We  do  n't  worship  God  in  the  west  by 
proxy,  or  substitution.  You  need  not  give  yourself 
any  trouble  about  getting  a  western  man  to  preach 
in  your  church;  we  do  n't  want  to  do  it,  and  I  do  not 
think  that  I  will  try  to  preach  in  Boston  any  more, 
unless  you  would  permit  me  to  conduct  the  services 
after  the  western  manner." 

SaLl  brother  Taylor  to  me,  "Brother,  you  must 


PETER    CARTWRIQHT.  477 

preach  to  us  at  the  Bethel ;  and,"  said  he,  "  roll  up 
your  sleeves,  and  unbutton  your  collar,  and  give  us  a 
real  western  cut." 

My  reply  was  this:  "If  you  will  let  me  regulate 
your  congregation,  and  preach  as  we  do  in  the  west, 
I  have  no  objection  to  preaching  to  your  congrega- 
tion or  any  where  in  Boston." 

"  Very  well,  at  it  you  go,"  was  his  reply. 

In  the  mean  time  I  had  learned  from  different 
sources,  that  the  grand  reason  of  my  falling  under 
the  expectations  of  the  congregations  that  I  had  ad- 
dressed was  substantially  this:  almost  all  those  curi- 
ous incidents  that  had  gained  currency  throughout 
the  country,  concerning  Methodist  preachers,  had 
been  located  on  me,  and  that  when  the  congregations 
came  to  hear  me,  they  expected  little  else  but  a  bun- 
dle of  eccentricities  and  singularities;  and  when  they 
did  not  realize,  according  to  their  anticipations,  they 
were  disappointed,  and  that  this  was  the  reason  they 
•were  disappointed.  So  on  Sabbath,  when  I  came  to 
the  Bethel,  we  had  a  good  congregation ;  and  after 
telling  them  that  brother  Taylor  had  given  me  the  lib- 
erty to  preach  to  them  after  the  western  fashion,  I 
took  my  text  Matthew  xi,  12;  and  after  a  few  com- 
monplace remarks,  I  commenced  giving  them  some 
western  anecdotes,  which  had  a  thrilling  effect  on  the 
congregation,  and  excited  them  immoderately,  I  can 
not  say  religiously;  but  I  thought  if  ever  I  saw  ani- 
mal excitement,  it  was  then  and  there.  This  broke 
the  charm.  During  my  stay  after  this,  I  could  pass 
any  where  for  Peter  Cartwright,  the  old  pioneer  of  the 
west.  I  am  not  sure  that  after  this  I  fell  under  the 
expectations  of  my  congregations  among  them. 

I  will  say  that  a  more  generous,  hospitable,  and 
social  people  I  never  found  any  where  than  in  Boston. 


478  AUTO  BIO  J  R  A  I'll  Y    OF 

Their  sociability  and  friendly  greetings  rcm in-led  me 
more  of  our  western  manners  than  any  thing  I  ever 
found  among  total  strangers,  and  many  of  them  are 
sincere,  devout  Christians;  but  their  mode  of  worship 
I  do  most  solemnly  object  to,  so  far  as  their  pews, 
promiscuous  sittings,  and  instrumental  music  are  con- 
cerned. The  salaries  of  their  organists  and  choirs  are 
expenses  unjustified  by  the  word  of  God.  I  also  take 
exceptions,  in  many  instances,  to  the  moral  character 
of  the  persons  employed  in  these  departments.  The 
evils  that  result  from  mixed  sittings  of  male  and  fe- 
male, which  are  always  attendant  on  the  pew  system, 
are  neither  few  nor  small.  The  choir  practice  de- 
stroys congregational  singing  almost  entirely,  and  has 
introduced  the  awkward  and  irreverent  practice 
among  congregations  of  turning  their  backs  on  the 
sacred  desk,  and  facing  about  to  the  choir,  and  this 
whole  system  has  a  tendency  to  destroy  the  humble 
practice  of  kneeling  in  time  of  prayer,  and  contrib- 
utes largely  to  the  Church-dishonoring  practice  of 
sitting  while  the  prayers  of  the  Church  are  offered  up 
to  God.  I  shall  not  attempt  a  labored  argument  here 
against  these  evils,  for  I  suppose  where  these  practice? 
have  become  the  order  of  the  day,  it  would  be  exceed 
ingly  hard  to  overcome  the  prejudice  in  favor  of  them, 
though  I  am  sure,  from  every  observation  that  I  have 
been  able  to  make,  that  their  tendencies  are  to  for- 
mality, and  often  engender  pride,  and  destroy  the  spir- 
ituality of  Divine  worship;  it  gives  precedence  to  the 
rich,  proud,  and  fashionable  part  of  our  hearers,  and 
unavoidably  blocks  up  the  way  of  the  poor;  and  no 
stumbling-block  should  be  put  in  the  way  of  one  of 
these  little  ones  that  believe  in  Christ. 

I  found  the  Bostonians  to  be  a  liberal   people   in 
their  contributions  for  benevolent  purposes.     It  fell 


1-ETEtt    CART  WRIGHT.  479 

to  iny  lot  to  be  a  solicitor  for  pecuniary  aid  to  erect 
a  churcli  in  Warsaw,  Quincy  district,  Illinois  confer- 
ence, and  the  members  of  the  General  conference  and 
citizens  of  Boston  gave  me  several  hundred  dollars 
for  that  object. 

I  will  close  this  chapter  by  saying  that  the  General 
conference  that  sat  in  Boston,  in  1852,  was  the  tenth 
General  conference  which  I  attended,  or  was  elected  to. 
These  General  conferences  had  sat  in  Cincinnati,  Pitts- 
burg,  Baltimore,  Philadelphia,  and  New  York;  and 
though  we  were  treated  very  friendly  in  all  these 
cities,  yet  the  General  conference  in  Boston  was  more 
highly  honored  by  all  classes  of  citizens  than  any 
that  I  ever  attended;  and,  sure  enough,  to  use  the 
trite  saying  of  brother  Crandall,  I  found  live,  green 
Yankees  by  the  thousands,  and  some  of  them  very 
talented,  and  most  of  them  well  educated;  the  poor 
among  them  are  cared  for,  the  children  are  gathered 
up  in  all  directions  and  sent  to  school;  but,  after  all, 
it  would  make  a  western  man  laugh,  in  spite  of  his 
gravity,  to  hear  a  New  Englander  talk  of  his  great 
farm,  containing  all  of  two  acres,  and  hear  him  tell 
how  much  it  cost  him  to  remove  the  stone  off  the 
farm,  how  much  to  manure  it,  how  much  to  cultivate 
it ;  then  the  sowing  of  the  products,  the  marketing  of 
it,  and  the  real  product  in  cash.  They  will  really 
talk  scientifically  about  it.  I  could  not  but  think  of 
the  contrast,  for  we  have  some  farmers  in  Illinois  that 
have  from  one  to  five  thousand  acres  in  their  farms, 
in  active,  actual,  productive,  profitable  cultivation. 
JIail,  Boston!  live  forever! 


480  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 


CHAPTER   XXX. 

GENERAL    CONFERENCE    IN    BOSTON. 

THE  General  conference  of  1852  was  held  in  Bos- 
ton. Our  old  beloved  Bishop  Iledding  had  just  died 
and  left  us.  From  the  precarious  state  of  Bishop 
Ilamline's  health,  and  despairing  of  a  recovery,  he  ten- 
dered to  the  General  conference  his  resignation  of  the 
office  of  bishop,  to  which  we  had  elected  him  in  1844, 
and  we  accepted  his  resignation,  and,  as  we  have  else- 
where said,  we  had  but  three  bishops  left.  Brothers 
Waugh  and  Morris  were  getting  pretty  well  advanced 
in  life,  and  Bishop  Janes,  though  in  the  prime  of  life, 
was  failing  from  his  excessive  labors.  Our  Church 
was  extending  throughout  this  vast  continent,  and  in 
Liberia,  Germany,  South  America,  and  other  different 
and  distant  nations;  and  as  our  Discipline  very  prop 
crly  provides  that  our  bishops  should  travel  at  large 
throughout  the  connection,  it  was  clearly  seen  that 
we  must  strengthen  the  episcopacy  by  electing  a  suf- 
ficient number  to  visit,  personally,  all  parts  of  our 
widely-extending  connection.  Accordingly,  a  resolu- 
tion was  adopted  with  great  unanimity,  that  we  elect 
four  additional  bishops;  and  after  exchanging  and  in- 
terchanging our  opinions  and  views  concerning  the 
men  proper  to  be  set  apart  to  this  office,  it  was  de- 
clared, with  great  unanimity,  that  brothers  Scott, 
Simpson,  Baker,  and  Ames  be  elected. 

A  difficulty  had  taken    place   in   the  Ohio  confer- 
ence concerning  a  pewed  church.     One  of  our  good 


PETER    CAR1WRIQHT.  481 

preachers,  in  aiding  and  defending  those  brethren  that 
were  in  favor  of  the  pew  system,  had  been  considered 
guilty  of  imprudence,  and  the  Ohio  conference  passed 
a  vote  of  censure  on  this  brother,  and  from  this  he 
appealed  to  the  General  conference.  The  debates  on 
this  appeal  brought  on  the  controversy  on  the  subject 
of  pews.  The  General  conference  cleared  this  broth- 
er from  the  censure.  Then  followed  sundry  motions 
to  change  the  Discipline  on  the  subject  of  pewed 
churches ;  and,  finally,  our  old,  well-tried  rule  was 
changed  to  what  it  is  in  our  Discipline  now.  This 
was  a  real  Yankee  triumph.  However,  many  of  the 
members  of  the  General  conference  voted  for  this 
change,  hoping  to  stop  one  source  of  Church  litiga- 
tion hereafter,  and  they  may  so  far  succeed  as  to  pre- 
vent any  future  appeals  to  the  General  conference, 
but  they  have,  at  the  same  time,  opened  a  thousand 
doors  for  strife  and  contention,  in  all  cases  where  there 
is  any  considerable  division  or  difference  of  opinion 
on  the  subject  in  our  societies.  The  pew  system  is 
inevitably  at  war  with  the  best  interests  of  the 
Church,  for  no  honorable,  high-minded  man,  who  is 
poor,  and  unable  to  buy  or  rent  a  pew,  but  will  feel 
himself  degraded  to  intrude  himself  into  a  pewed 
church ;  and  that  form  of  worship  adopted  in  any 
Church  which  goes  to  exclude  the  poor,  contravenes 
the  Divine  law,  and  prevents  the  realization  of  that 
blessedness  that  God  has  provided  for  the  poor.  Fifty 
years  ago  there  was  not  a  member  or  preacher  among 
the  thousands  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
that  thought  of  having  a  pewed  church.  But  since 
the  Church  has  risen  in  numerical  strength,  and  be- 
come wealthy,  this  system  of  pewed  churches  is  fa?t 
becoming  the  order  of  the  day.  The  pew  system 
must  necessarily  be  extremely  offensive  to  the  Lord  a 
31 


482  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

poor,  and  we  should  all  remember  the  words  of  Jesus 
Christ,  that  it  were  better  that  a  millstone  were 
hanged  about  our  necks,  and  we  drowned  in  the 
depth  of  the  sea,  than  that  we  should  offend  one  of 
those  little  ones  that  believe  on  him.  For  my  own 
part,  I  always  feel  embarrassed  when,  as  a  stranger,  1 
enter  a  pewed  church,  and  how  mortifying  it  is  to  be 
directed  by  the  sexton  to  some  back,  dirty,  or  dingy 
seat,  and  I  involuntarily  ask,  "Are  ye  not  partial?" 
Leaving  the  pew  system  for  future  adjudication  of  the 
Church,  we  sincerely  hope  that  its  evils  will,  with  the 
pious,  work  its  entire  overthrow,  and  the  restoration 
of  free  seats  in  all  the  churches,  which  so  admirably 
agrees  with  a  free  Gospel. 

I  hope,  if  I  make  a  few  remarks  right  here  on 
the  speculations  published  not  long  since  in  the 
National  Magazine,  by  its  talented  editor,  on  the 
qualifications  of  the  bishops  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church,  it  will  not  be  considered  the  unpardon- 
able sin.  Brother  Stevens  seems  to  think  that  our 
present  bishops,  at  least  some  of  them,  have  talents 
of  too  high  a  grade  to  be  buried  in  the  unimportant 
and  comparatively  small  official  duties  of  their  office, 
and  that  it  would  be  better  to  select  men  of  less  use- 
ful, business  talents  to  perform  the  small  duties  of  a 
bishop,  reserving  those  men  of  a  high  grade  of  talent 
for  more  important  business  matters  or  interests  of  the 
Church.  I  must  confess  that  the  position  my  respect- 
ed brother  takes  took  me  rather  by  surprise,  but  my 
surprise  was  not  so  much  at  the  talented  editor  of  the 
National  taking  this  position,  as  at  the  position  itself* 
but  then,  why  should  I  be  surprised  at  any  position 
taken  in  this  educational,  advanced  age  of  the  world, 
seeing  that  I  am  an  old  dispensationist,  and  fifty  years 
behind  the  times?  I  have  been  acquainted  personally 


PETER   CARTWRIGHT.  483 

^  with  every  bishop  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church — 
save  Dr.  Coke — from  her  commencement  to  the  pres- 
ent, and  though  I  have  awarded  to  all  of  our  bishops 
a  high  grade  of  talent,  yet  it  never  entered  my  mind 
for  the  first  time  that  any  of  them  had  any  talents  to 
Bpare,  or  that  were  not  necessary  to  be  brought  into 
requisition  to  superintend  all  the  important  interests 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  When  I  consider 
he  responsible  duties  of  a  bishop  in  our  Church,  to 
constantly  travel  at  large  throughout  the  entire  bounds 
of  our  ministerial  fields  of  labor,  to  oversee  the  tem- 
poral and  spiritual  interests  of  the  whole  Church,  to 
assign,  from  year  to  year,  the  thousands  of  traveling 
preachers  to  their  most  appropriate  fields  of  labor, 
and  many  other  important  duties  too  tedious  to  enu- 
merate in  this  connection,  I  must  frankly  say  I  have 
never  had  the  first  spasm  or  fear  of  getting  men  of  too 
high  a  grade  of  talent,  yea,  of  business  talent,  to  per- 
form the  functions  of  their  office  with  credit  to  them- 
selves and  promotion  of  the  best  interests  of  the 
Church  of  God.  Moreover,  though  I  may  not  admire 
the  manner  of  these  speculations  of  my  beloved  and 
talented  editor,  yet,  should  they  tend  to  check  the 
high  aspirations  of  disappointed  expectants,  some 
good  may  result. 

It  is  a  trite  saying,  that  revolutions  never  go  back- 
ward ;  but  if  the  speculations  of  my  brother  are  not 
driving  things  backward,  then  I  must  be  very  much 
in  the  dark.  But  the  theory  we  have  just  noticed 
very  forcibly  reminds  me  of  what  is  alleged  to  be 
the  custom  of  the  members  of  the  Established  Church 
of  England,  namely :  If  parents  have  a  smart  and 
promising  son,  or  sons,  he,  or  they,  are  selected  tor 
the  bar.  or  for  the  medical  department,  or  some  other 
prominent  position,  and  they  are  educated  accord- 


484  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   Off 

mgly;  but  if  they  have  a  stupid  boy,  that  promises 
very  little  usefulness  to  the  world,  or  at  least  promises 
to  shine  not  very  brilliantly,  he  is  immediately  desig- 
nated for  the  ministry,  for  then  he  can  be  supported 
by  the  state,  and  not  by  his  acceptable  and  useful 
talents.  0,  what  a  reproach  to  the  Gospel  of  the  Son 
of  God,  and  what  a  withering  curse  to  the  Church! 

At  our  conference  at  Beardstown,  October  12th. 
1853,  as  1  have  already  said,  I  was  appointed  to 
Pleasant  Plains  district,  and  bade  an  affectionate 
adieu  to  Quincy  district.  I  do  not  know  that  I  was 
ever  appointed  to  any  field  of  labor  that  I  felt  more 
attached  to  than  I  did  to  the  Quincy  district,  and 
should  hare  been  glad  to  have  spent  at  least  two 
years  more;  but  the  best  of  friends  in  this  life  must 
part ;  we  part,  however,  with  a  blessed  hope  of  meet- 
ing in  another  and  better  world.  I  hardly  ever  left 
a  field  of  ministerial  labor  but  I  felt  sorrowful,  and 
indulged  in  very  gloomy  reflections.  Here  are  hun- 
dreds of  my  best  earthly  friends,  whom  I  have  lived 
and  labored  with  in  great  peace  and  harmony;  we 
have  preached  and  prayed  together  ;  often  been 
happy  and  shouted  the  high  praises  of  God  together, 
many  of  whom  are  my  spiritual  children  that  God 
has  given  me.  We  have  labored  and  suffered  to- 
gether, but  now,  for  the  last  time,  we  splice  hands, 
and  bid  each  other  finally  farewell,  till  we  meet  in 
the  general  resurrection.  When  I  remember  how 
swift  time  flies,  and  how  soon  God  will  call  his  suffer- 
ing children  home,  then  and  there  let  us  meet,  where 
painful  separations  forever  cease. 

Before  I  close  this  feeble  sketch  of  my  long  life,  I 
wish  to  give  a  very  brief  sketch  of  a  few  of  my  fellow- 
laborers  who  suffered  long  and  endured  much  in 
spreading  Methodism  in  these  western  wilds,  and 


PETER    CARTWRIGIIT.  485 

thereby  rescue  from  oblivion  their  names  and  worthy 
deeds,  that  generations  to  come  may  know  their  in- 
debtedness to  the  early  pioneer  Methodist  preachers, 
for  the  moral  order  in  a  great  and  good  degree  that  pre- 
vails in  the  vast  regions  of  the  west.  Whatever  may 
be  justly  attributed  to  education  and  other  instru- 
mentalities, the  present,  as  well  as  future  generations, 
owe,  and  will  owe,  a  debt  of  gratitude  to  the  indom- 
itable courage  and  pious  labor  of  early  suffering 
Methodist  preachers  for  the  great  and  good  order  of 
this  vast  wilderness.  When  they  entered  it  as 
preachers  of  the  Gospel,  very  few  ministers  of  any 
other  denomination  would  brook  the  hardships  and 
undergo  the  privations  that  mast  necessarily  be  en- 
dured in  preaching  the  Gospel  in  these  sparsely-popu- 
lated and  frontier  regions.  But-  hardly  had  the  early 
emigrant  pitched  his  tent,  raised  his  temporary  camp, 
or  log-cabin,  when  the  early  Methodist  tiaveling 
preachers  were  there  to  preach  to  them  the  ansearch- 
able  riches  of  Christ ;  and  how  many  thousands  who 
had  withstood  the  offers  of  life  in  the  old  settlements 
or  states,  have  been  followed  into  the  wilderness  by 
these  early  Methodist  preachers  and  won  over  to 
Christ!  Many  ministers  of  other  Churches  waited 
till  flourishing  towns,  villages,  and  populous  settle- 
ments had  formed  and  improved  the  country,  and 
could  give  them  a  good  fat  salary;  and  then  they 
came  and  entered  into  the  labors  of  these  old  pio- 
neers. People,  unacquainted  with  frontier  life,  and 
especially  frontier  life  fifty  or  sixty  years  ago,  can  form 
but  a  very  imperfect  idea  of  the  sufferings  and  hard- 
ships the  early  settlers  of  these  western  states  under- 
went at  that  day,  when  Methodist  preachers  went 
from  fort  to  fort,  from  camp  to  camp,  fron?  tent  to 
tent,  from  cabin  to  cabin,  with  or  without  road  or 


486  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

path.  We  walked  on  dirt  floors  for  carpets,  sal  OL 
stools  or  benches  for  chairs,  ate  on  puncheon  tables 
had  forked  sticks  and  pocket,  or  butcher  knives,  for 
knives  and  forks,  slept  on  bear,  deer,  or  buffalo  skins 
before  the  fire,  or  sometimes  on  the  ground  in  open 
air  for  downy  beds,  had  our  saddles,  or  saddle-bags 
for  pillows  instead  of  pillows  of  feathers,  and  one  new 
suit  of  clothes  of  homespun  was  ample  clothing  for 
one  year  for  an  early  Methodist  preacher  in  the 
west. 

We  crossed  creeks  and  large  rivers  without  bridges 
or  ferry-boats,  often  swam  them  on  horseback,  or 
crossed  on  trees  that  had  fallen  over  the  streams, 
drove  our  horses  over,  and  often  waded  out  waist 
deep ;  and  if  by  chance  we  got  a  dug-out,  or  canoe,  to 
cross  in  ounelves,  and  swim  our  horses  by,  it  was 
quite  a  treat. 

0,  ye  downy  doctors  and  learned  presidents  and 
professors,  heads  of  the  Methodist  literature  of  the 
present  do,;/,  remember  the  above  course  of  training 
was  the  colleges  in  which  we  early  Methodist  preach- 
ers grad/uted,  and  from  which  we  took  our  diplomas! 
Here  we  solved  our  mathematical  problems,  declined 
our  Dru/iS  and  conjugated  our  verbs,  parsed  our 
senter.css,  and  became  proficient  in  the  dead  Ian 
guv.ges  of  the  Indian  and  backwoods  dialect. 

Suppose  these  illiterate  early  Methodist  preachers 
had  held  back,  or  waited  for  a  better  education,  or 
for  these  educational  times,  where  would  the  Method- 
ist Church  have  been  to-day  in  this  vast  valley  of 
the  Mississippi?  Suppose  the  thousands  of  early  set- 
tlers and  scores  of  early  Methodist  preachers,  by  some 
Providential  intervention,  had  blundered  on  a  Biblical 
institute,  or  a  theological  factory,  where  they  dress 
up  little  pedantic  things  they  call  preachers ;  sup- 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  487 

pose  je  we  would  have  known  them  from  a  ram's 
horn?  Surely  not. 

Jesse  Walker,  known  to  thousands  in  Illinois,  Mis- 
souri, Indiana,  Tennessee,  and  Kentucky,  was  a  native 
of  Virginia.  His  age  has  gone  from  my  recollec- 
tion. His  commencement  as  a  preacher  was  in  the 
local  order,  and  as  such  he  moved  to  West  Tennessee. 
This  was  about  the  time  of  the  great  Cumberland 
revival ;  and  though  he  had  a  very  limited  education, 
and  his  preaching  powers  were  not  very  profound,  yet 
he  could  preach  a  plain,  practical  sermon ;  and  he  was 
a  powerful  exhorter. 

In  the  fall  of  1803  brother  Walker  was  received 
on  trial  in  the  traveling  connection,  in  the  Western 
conference,  and  appointed  to  travel  the  Red  River 
circuit,  in  Cumberland  district;  John  Page  was  his 
presiding  elder.  He  was  this  year  blessed  with  glo- 
rious revivals,  and  received  a  great  many  into  the 
Church.  In  1804  he  was  appointed  to  the  Livingston 
circuit.  This  was  a  new  field  of  labor  which  I  had 
formed  the  year  before  under  the  elder.  Here  his 
family  was  greatly  afflicted,  and  he  lost  by  death  two 
of  his  children;  but  brother  Walker's  labors  were 
greatly  blessed,  and  many  seals  were  added  to  his 
ministry. 

In  1805  he  remained  on  the  same  circuit  with 
Hartford  circuit  attached  to  it.  His  labors  this  year 
were  greatly  blessed.  A  great  number  were  convert- 
ed and  joined  the  Church.  In  1806  brother  Walker 
was  appointed  to  Hartford  circuit;  this  was  also  a 
prosperous  year  in  many  additions  to  the  Church. 
In  1807  he  was  appointed  to  the  Illinois  circuit,  for 
it  will  be  seen  that  the  Illinois  and  Missouri  states 
both  belonged  to  Cumberland  district.  Here  he 
entered  the  prairie  wilderness,  and  spent  a  successful 


488  AUTOBIOGRAPHY     OF 

year  on  that  circuit.  In  1808  he  was  appointed  to 
Missouri,  still  further  in  the  wilderness  of  the  west: 
as  usual,  he  had  several  revivals.  In  1809  a  new  dis- 
trict was  formed,  called  Indiana  district,  embracing 
Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Missouri  states,  and  J.  Walker 
was  appointed  to  Illinois  circuit.  In  1810  and  181] 
/ic  was  appointed  to,  and  traveled  with  acceptability 
and  usefulness,  the  Cape  Girardeau  circuit,  in  Mis- 
souri. In  the  fall  of  1811  the  name  of  the  Indiana 
was  changed  to  Illinois  district,  S.  Parker  presiding 
elder;  and  in  1812  brother  Walker  was  appointed  to 
the  Illinois  circuit  again. 

It  should  be  recollected  that  in  1812  the  Genera] 
conference  sat  in  New  York ;  this  was  the  first  dele- 
gated General  conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  At  this  General  conference  the  Western 
conference  was  divided  into  two,  called  Ohio  and 
Tennessee  conferences.  In  1815  the  Missouri  dis- 
trict was  formed;  and  in  1817  he  was  appointed  to 
that  district.  Right  here  it  should  be  remembered 
that  the  General  conference  which  sat  in  Baltimore, 
May  1,  1816,  divided  the  Tennessee  conference, 
and  formed  a  Missouri  conference.  The  Missouri 
conference  was  composed  of  two  presiding-elder 
districts,  namely,  Illinois  and  Missouri,  though  it 
embraced  four  states,  namely:  Arkansas,  Missouri, 
Illinois,  and  Indiana.  The  Missouri  district  covered 
two  states  west  of  the  Mississippi,  Arkansas  and  Mis- 
souri. The  Illinois  district  covered  the  states  of 
Illinois  and'Indiana.  These  four  states  were  all  fron 
tier  ground;  desperate,  long,  lonesome  rides,  and 
little  or  no  support  for  preachers  or  presiding  elders ; 
and  if  our  districts  were  as  large  and  hard  to  travel 
now  as  then,  we  should  not  have  as  many  young 
aspiring  expectants  for  that  office  as  abound  in  oui . 


PETER  CARTWRIQHT.  489 

conferences.  In  1818  and  1819  he  carried  success- 
fully the  Gospel  to  thousands  of  the  scattered  frontier 
settlers  in  Missouri  and  Arkansas,  and  many  in  the 
day  of  judgment  from  those  poor  frontier  regions  Avill 
rise  up  and  call  him  blessed. 

I  think  it  was  in  the  fall  of  1819  our  beloved  old 
brother  Walker,  who  had  traveled  all  his  life,  or 
nearly  so,  came  over  to  our  Tennessee  conference, 
which  sat  in  Nashville,  to  see  us ;  but,  0 !  how 
weather-beaten  and  war-worn  was  he ;  almost,  if  not 
altogether,  without  decent  apparel  to  appear  among 
us.  We  soon  made  a  collection,  and  had  him  a 
decent  suit  of  clothes  to  put  on ;  and  never  shall  I 
forget  the  blushing  modesty  and  thankfulness  with 
which  he  accepted  that  suit,  and  never  did  I  and 
others  have  a  stronger  verification  of  our  Lord's 
words,  "That  it  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  re 
ceive."  In  1820  he  was  appointed  Conference  Mis- 
sionary, and  sustained  the  relation  of  missionary  to 
the  Missouri  conference  from  1821  to  1824. 

He  was  instructed,  in  1824,  to  pay  attention  to  the 
Indians  in  the  bounds  of  Missouri.  During  these 
years  of  extensive  missionary  travel,  he  visited  St. 
Louis,  which  was  almost  wholly  given  to  Romish 
idolatry.  There  was  no  Methodist  society  or  church 
in  the  city,  and  perhaps  no  Protestant  church  in  the 
place.  It  had  been  settled  from  an  early  day  with 
French  Catholics.  In  his  visit  to  this  place  he  saw 
its  deplorable  moral  condition,  and  resolved  to  seek  a 
way  to  carry  the  Gospel  to  its  perishing  thousands. 
But  how  was  he  to  do  it?  and  how  was  he  to  be 
supported  while  doing  it?  Means  of  support  he  had 
none.  He  made  it  a  matter  of  prayer,  and  asked  aid 
"f  God.  Accordingly,  he  made  his  stand  in  the  city, 
and  took  up  a  day  school  of  A,  B,  C  scholars,  by 


490  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

which  he  supported  himself,  and  all  he  made  over  he 
applied  to  the  erection  of  a  small  church,  which,  if 
my  memory  is  not  at  fault,  was  the  first  Protestant 
house  of  worship  in  the  city.  God  did  not  despise 
the  day  of  small  things,  but  crowned  his  efforts  with 
signal  success,  so  much  so,  that  he  not  only  succeeded 
in  building  a  church,  but  gathered  a  congregation  in 
it,  and  raised  a  Methodist  society  which  remains  to 
this  day ;  and  Methodism  has  spread  through  the 
city,  so  that  there  are  many  charges,  and  a  good  many 
splendid  churches  erected,  and  several  thousand  mem- 
bers in  the  different  branches  of  Methodism. 

In  1824  the  Missouri  conference  was  divided 
by  the  General  conference,  which  sat  in  Baltimore. 
The  Illinois  conference  was  organized.  Brother 
Walker  was  appointed  missionary  to  the  settlements 
between  the  Illinois  and  Mississippi  rivers,  and 
to  the  Indians  in  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Clark — now 
Peoria.  He  traveled  extensively,  and  preached 
through  this  entire  new  country,  raised  several  socie- 
ties, one  at  Fort  Clark,  penetrated  into  the  Indian 
country,  visited  their  chiefs,  made  known  his  wishes 
to  establish  missions  and  schools  among  them,  and 
met  a  friendly  reception  by  their  chief  men,  espe- 
cially among  the  Pottawattomies;  and  in  1S26  he  was 
appointed  missionary  to  that  tribe  of  Indians.  He 
was  continued  in  this  mission  in  1827  and  1828,  and 
having  obtained  a  grant  from  the  Indians  to  a  section 
of  land,  he  built  houses,  opened  a  farm,  preached  to 
the  Indians  through  an  interpreter,  established  a 
Bchool,  and  had  some  prosperity;  and  had  it  not  been 
for  the  corrupting  influences  of  white  men,  in  selling 
whisky  to  the  Indians,  and  corrupt  white  men  that 
cheated  the  Indians  out  of  their  annuities,  there  is  no 
doubt  but  these  Indians  w^uld  have  become  civilized 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  491 

and  Christianized.  What  a  fearful  account  these 
unprincipled  white  men  will  have  to  render  at  the 
judgment  for  the  demoralization  and  destruction  of 
the  Indians !  I  thank  God,  during  my  superintendence 
of  this  nvssion,  while  brother  Walker  was  missionary 
among  them,  we  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  the  hopefu 
conversion  of  several  of  them,  and  of  baptizing  them, 
and  receiving  them  into  the  visible  Church  of  Christ. 

In  1828  brother  Walker  was  succeeded  in  the 
mission  by  brother  Isaac  Scarritt,  and  was  sent  to 
the  Peoria  circuit,  where  he  labored  with  his  accus- 
tomed usefulness  and  acceptability.  In  1829  he  was 
returned  to  the  mission  among  the  Pottawattomies, 
which  was  located  on  Fox  river,  about  twenty  miles 
from  Ottawa,  where  it  empties  into  the  Illinois  river. 
In  the  mean  time  the  Government  had  bought  out  the 
Indian  claim;  and  although  the  Church  had  spent 
some  thousands  of  dollars  in  its  establishment,  we  lost 
it.  The  mission  premises  were  reserved  for  one  of 
the  half  breeds,  and  brother  Walker  was,  in  1830,  ap- 
pointed to  Chicago  mission,  where  he  succeeded  in 
planting  Methodism  in  this  then  infant  city.  In 
1831  he  was  appointed  to  the  Des  Plains  mission, 
and  organized  many  small  societies  in  that  young  and 
rising  country. 

In  1832  there  was  a  Chicago  district  formed,  of 
mostly  missionary  ground.  Brother  Walker  was  super- 
intendent of  this  missionary  district,  and  missionary 
to  Chicago  town;  and  although  he  was  well  stricken 
in  years,  and  well-nigh  worn  out,  having  spent  a 
comparatively  long  life  on  the  frontiers,  yet  the  old 
man  had  the  respect  and  confidence  of  the  whole 
community;  and  in  1833  was  continued  in  the  Chi- 
cago missionary  station.  This  year  closed  his  active 
•tiiu-rant  life.  He  had  done  effective  and  efficient 


492  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

service  as  a  traveling  preacher  for  more  than  thirty 
years,  and  had  lived  poor  and  suffered  much;  had 
won  thousands  of  souls  over  to  Christ,  and  built  up 
and  firmly  planted  Methodism  for  thousands  of  miles 
on  our  frontier  border. 

In  1834  he  asked  for  and  obtained  a  superannuated 
elation,  in  which  relation  he  lived  till  the  5th  of 
October,  1835,  and  then,  being  at  peace  with  God 
and  all  mankind,  and  having  fought  a  good  fight,  and 
finished  his  course,  and  kept  the  faith,  he  was  ready 
for  the  messenger,  and  left  the  world  in  holy  triumph; 
and  his  redeemed  spirit  rose  triumphantly,  and  entered 
heaven,  to  be  hailed  and  welcomed  home  by  the  thou- 
sands to  whom,  in  the  Divine  economy,  he  had  been 
the  honored  instrument  of  salvation;  and  I  hope 
to  meet  him  in  heaven  before  very  long.  He  was 
the  first  minister  who,  by  the  authority  of  the  Method- 
ist Church,  gave  me  my  first  permit  to  exhort.  We 
have  fought  side  by  side  for  many  years;  we  have 
suffered  hunger  and  want  together;  we  have  often 
wept,  and  prayed,  and  preached  together;  I  hope  we 
shall  sing  and  shout  together  in  heaven.  Peace  to 
his  memory! 

SAMUEL  H.  THOMPSON  was  born  in  Westmoreland 
county,  Pennsylvania,  March  16,  1786.  He  had  a 
pious  mother,  who  very  diligently  instructed  young 
Samuel  in  the  general  principles  of  our  holy  religion, 
according  to  the  Calvinistic  views  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  for  which  Church  through  life  he  entertained 
a  high  regard,  though  he  repudiated  the  Calvinistic 
doctrines.  He  received  a  good  common  English  edu- 
cation for  that  early  day,  and  was  considered  an  honor- 
able, high-minded  young  man.  In  his  eighteenth  year 
he  joined  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  as  a  seeker 


PETER   CARTWRIGHT.  493 

of  religion.  For  two  years  he  sought  an  experimental 
knowledge  of  the  forgiveness  of  his  sins ;  and  while 
engaged  in  secret  prayer,  a  peaceful  answer  was 
granted  to  him,  though  not  such  an  evidence  of  par- 
don as  he  desired;  but  shortly  afterward,  during 
family  prayer,  he  obtained  a  clear  evidence  of  the 
regeneration  of  his  fallen  nature,  and  immediately 
commenced  exhorting  his  associates  to  seek  God, 
and  was  licensed  to  preach.  In  the  fall  of  1810  he 
was  received  on  trial  as  a  traveling  preacher,  in  the 
Western  conference,  held  at  Cincinnati,  which  was 
tfien  the  only  conference  west  of  the  mountains.  He 
was  appointed  to  the  Whitewater  circuit,  Indiana 
district,  Ohio.  Here  young  Thompson  was  received 
kindly,  and  preached  successfully.  In  1811  he  was 
appointed  to  the  Xolliechuckie  circuit,  in  East  Ten- 
nessee; in  1812,  to  Clinch  River  circuit.  In  both 
these  circuits  he  labored  zealously,  and  was  useful. 
In  the  fall  of  1812  he  was  ordained  a  deacon.  At 
the  division  of  the  Western  conference  he  fell  into 
the  Tennessee  part,  and  in  1813  was  appointed  to  the 
Knoxville  circuit,  where  his  labors  were  greatly 
blessed.  In  1814  he  was  appointed  to  Christian  cir- 
cuit, and  there  were  in  this  circuit  added  to  his  minis- 
try many  seals. 

In  the  fall  of  1814  he  was  ordained  an  elder,  and 
in  1815  he  was  appointed  presiding  elder  of  the  Mis- 
souri district.  He  remained  on  this  district  in  1810. 
Vast  was  the  frontier  country  that  brother  Thompson 
explored  on  this  district ;  and  he  successfully  planted 
the  standard  of  the  Gospel  and  of  Methodism  in 
many  log-cabins  and  frontier  settlements,  and  won 
many  laurels  for  his  Master  in  this  wilderness  of  the 
west,  and  the  Lord  gave  him  many  souls  for  his  hire. 

At  the  General  conference  of  1816  the  Missouri 


494  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

conference  was  stricken  off  from  the  Tennessee  con 
ference;  and  in  1817  he  was  appointed  to  the  Illinois 
district,  which  covered  almost  all  the  inhabited  parts 
of  the  state  of  Illinois  and  southern  Indiana.  He 
remained  on  this  large  district  two  years,  and  was 
aggressive  in  all  his  ministerial  labors,  organizing 
many  societies  in  this  new  and  rising  country.  In 
1819  he  was  appointed  to  Shoal  Creek  and  Illinois 
circuits,  joined  together,  where  his  labors  were  greatly 
blessed.  Money  was  scarce  through  all  this  western 
country,  but  brother  Thompson  suffered  on,  through 
penury  and  want.  In  the  mean  time  he  had  married, 
and  had  a  young  and  growing  family  to  provide  for. 
In  1820  he  remained  on  the  Illinois  circuit,  and  was 
instrumental  in  greatly  building  up  the  Church.  In 
1821  brother  Thompson  was  again  placed  on  the 
Missouri  district  as  presiding  elder,  where  he  re- 
mained two  years,  still  laboring  and  suffering  for 
his  Master,  and  planting  Methodism  in  many  new 
settlements,  and  many  claimed  him  as  the  honored 
instrument  of  their  salvation;  and  many  were  the 
thrilling  shouts  of  new-born  souls  brought  into  the 
liberty  of  the  Gospel  on  the  tented  camp-ground, 
as  well  as  from  the  log-cabin.  From  1823  to  1826 
brother  Thompson  was  stationed  on  the  Illinois  dis- 
trict, Illinois  conference,  which  covered  more  than 
two-thirds  of  the  geographical  boundaries  of  the 
state;  but  with  unfaltering  steps  he  traveled  night 
and  day,  seldom  missing  his  appointments,  through 
cold  and  heat,  floods  or  snow-storms.  His  labors 
were  greatly  blessed,  and  there  is  very  little  doubt 
that  he  was  the  most  popular  and  useful  preacher  in 
the  state.  Hundreds,  if  not  thousands,  from  the  Illi- 
nois district,  in  the  great  day  of  judgment  will  hail 
our  beloved  brother,  and  call  him  blessed. 


PETER    CARTWRIOHT.  496 

From  the  hard  fields  of  labor  occupied  by  brother 
Thompson,  his  poor  fare,  the  privations  he  underwent, 
and  his  extraordinary  zealous  pulpit  labors,  the  very 
many  hardships  and  sufferings  he  endured  incident 
to  a  new  country,  his  fine  constitution  began  to  give 
way,  and  he  found  it  necessary  to  relax  his  efforts  in 
some  degree.  Accordingly,  he  asked  for  and  obtain- 
ed a  supernumerary  relation,  and  in  that  relation,  in 
1827,  he  was  appointed  to  the  Illinois  circuit,  where 
his  labors  were  fully  equal  to  his  strength.  In  1828 
he  was  continued  on  the  same  circuit,  and  in  1829, 
having  recovered  his  health  a  little,  he  was  made 
effective,  and  appointed  to  the  Shoal  Creek  circuit. 
The  Lord  gave  him  a  prosperous  year,  and  made  him 
a  blessing  to  many  souls.  In  1830  there  was  a  new 
district  formed,  called  the  Kaskaskia  district,  and 
brother  Thompson  was  appointed  presiding  elder. 
He  traveled  this  district  in  1831  and  1832,  abundant 
in  labors  and  usefulness.  In  1833  he  was  appointed 
traveling  agent  for  the  Lebanon  Seminary,  and  ac- 
quitted himself  honorably.  In  1834  he  was  appointed 
to  the  Lebanon  circuit,  and  although  he  had  preach- 
ed for  many  years  to  the  most  of  his  congregations, 
yet  the  Church  hailed  him  as  a  brother  beloved,  and 
his  ministry  was  profitable,  and  he  proved  a  blessing 
to  many.  In  1835  brother  Thompson  sustained  a  su- 
perannuated relation  to  the  conference,  and  tne  rest 
from  his  energetic  labors  this  year  gave  him  some  in- 
crease of  strength,  and  he  wanted  to  spend  that 
strength  in  doing  good,  and  his  relation  in  1836  was 
changed  to  supernumerary,  and  he  was  appointed  to 
Alton  station.  He  was  this  year  only  partial  in  his 
labors;  his  constitution  was  fast  giving  way.  Accord- 
ingly, in  1807  he  sustained  a  superannuated  relation 
igain.  P>ut  his  soul  was  restless  when  out  of  Ida 


490  AUTOBIOGRAPHY*  OF 

field  of  ministerial  work;  accordingly,  in  1838  be 
asked  to  be  made  effective,  but  the  conference  gave 
him  a  supernumerary  relation,  and  he  was  appointed 
to  labor  in  the  towns  of  Vandalia  and  Hillsboro; 
in  1839  he  was  again  appointed  to  Alton  City  sta- 
tion, as  supernumerary;  in  1840  he  was  appointed  to 
labor  in  the  Belleville  station,  where  he  labored  but 
little.  His  physical  powers  evidently  were  fast 
giving  way,  and  in  1841  he  was  placed  in  a  super- 
annuated relation,  which  relation  he  continued  to  sus 
tain  till  his  redeemed  spirit  returned  to  God  who 
gave  it,  which  happened  on  the  19th  of  March,  1842. 
Brother  Thompson  labored  hard,  and  suffered  much, 
for  more  than  thirty  years.  His  field  of  labor  for 
those  years  embraced  large  portions  of  Ohio,  Indiana, 
Tennessee,  Kentucky,  Illinois,  Missouri,  and  Arkansas 
states,  much  of  which  was  new  and  on  the  outskirts 
of  civilization,  destitute  of  means  of  comfortable  sup- 
port. In  these  respects  his  zeal,  like  a  quenchless  fire, 
urged  him  on  night  and  day,  over  desert  wastes,  tow- 
tring  mountains,  rapid  rivers.  He  often  suffered 
hunger  and  almost  nakedness  in  quest  of  lost  and 
wandering  sinners  to  bring  them  back  to  God,  and 
thousands  now  in  heaven  will  praise  God  forever  that 
this  self-sacrificing  Methodist  preacher  taught  them 
the  way  to  life  in  their  mud  hovels  and  smoky  cabins. 
The  last  year  of  his  eventful  life  his  health  almost 
entirely  gave  way,  and  while  confined  to  his  bed, 
from  which  he  never  rose,  such  was  his  ardent  thirst 
for  the  salvation  of  souls,  that  he  requested  to  call  it 
the  neighbors,  and  to  be  propped  up  in  his  bed,  and 
to  preach  one  more  sermon  to  them  before  he  left  for 
heaven.  His  desire  was  granted;  the  room  waa 
crowded,  and  such  a  sermon  hardly  ever  fell  from 
the  lips  of  mortal  man.  The  power  of  God  fell  on 


PETER    CARTWRIGITT.  497 

the  congregation ;  they  wept  aloud,  and  fell  in  every 
direction,  and  many  will  date  their  start  for  heaven 
to  that  sermon.  And  now,  having  delivered  his  last 
message,  he  said,  "My  work  is  done,  and  I  am  ready 
to  go  at  my  Master's  bidding." 

During  the  few  lingering  moments  that  he  remain- 
ed he  gave  unmistakable  evidence  that  he  was  at 
peace  with  God,  and  all  mankind,  and  that  he  had  a 
complete  victory  over  the  fear  of  death.  He  contin- 
ued in  this  heavenly  frame  of  mind  till  he  sweetly 
fell  asleep  in  the  arras  of  Jesus,  and  quietly  breathed 
his  last  and  went  up  to  glory.  Brother  Thompson 
was  a  gentleman  as  well  as  Christian.  He  was  faith- 
ful in  the  administration  of  the  Discipline  of  the 
Church ;  very  firm,  but  mild.  He  was  courteous  in 
manner,  had  a  nice  regard  to  feelings,  but  remarka- 
ably  faithful  in  reproving  whatever  he  thought  wrong 
in  saint  and  sinner.  He  had  but  few  personal  enemies; 
his  soul  breathed  the  true  spirit  of  Christian  kindness 
and  love.  He  has  left  behind  him  thousands  that 
claim  him  as  the  honored  instrument  in  their  conver- 
sion, and  if  they  are  faithful  I  have  no  doubt  will 
meet  him  in  heaven  with  shouts  of  victory  forever 
and  ever. 

JOHN  DEW  was  born  on  the  19th  of  July,  1789,  in 
die  state  of  Virginia.  In  the  days  of  his  youth  he 
embraced  religion,  and  joined  the  Methodist  Episcopa 
Church,  of  which  he  remained  a  worthy  member 
during  life,  and  being  deeply  impressed  that  it  was 
his  duty  to  preach  the  Gospel,  he  was  recommended 
by  his  class,  and  obtained  license  to  preach  as  a  local 
preacher,  and  then  joined  the  traveling  connection  ic 
the  Ohio  conference.  In  1813  he  was  appointed  to 
the  Salt  River  circuit,  in  Kentucky,  and  was  blessed 
32 


498  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

with  success.  The  first  year  of  his  itinerancy,  1814, 
he  was  appointed  to  the  Jefferson  circuit,  and  labor 
ed  with  acceptability  and  usefulness  to  the  Church. 
In  1815  he  traveled  the  Madison  circuit ;  here  he 
gave  good  proof  of  his  call  to  the  ministry,  and  the 
Lord  owned  and  blessed  his  labors.  In  1816  he 
traveled  the  Guyandotte  circuit,  and  had  seals  to  his 
ministry.  This  fall  he  located,  and  remained  local  for 
eight  years,  but  was  an  industrious  and  useful  local 
preacher,  and  was  the  means  of  doing  much  good  in 
several  parts  that  he  visited.  He  preached  with 
great  acceptability  in  the  southern  part  of  Kentucky 
and  the  Illinois  state. 

In  the  fall  of  1824  brother  Dew  was  readmitted 
into  the  traveling  connection  in  the  Illinois  conference, 
and  he  was  appointed  to  travel  the  Illinois  circuit. 
Here  he  labored  faithfully,  and  did  good.  In  1825 
he  was  continued  on  the  same  circuit,  and  at  the 
'close  of  this  year  was  transferred  to  the  Missouri 
conference,  and  appointed  presiding  elder  of  the 
Missouri  district.  In  1827  he  was  stationed  in  St. 
Louis  city.  In  1828  he  was  transferred  back  again  to 
Illinois  conference,  and  appointed  superintendent  and 
conference  collector  for  the  Pottawattomie  mission  on 
Fox  river.  He  was  active,  vigilant,  and  useful  in 
this  field  of  labor.  In  1829  brother  Dew  was  ap- 
pointed to  the  Galena  station,  in  the  extreme  north- 
west corner  of  the  Illinois  state,  at  least  four  hundred 
miles  from  home;  and  such  was  the  poverty  of  the 
country  at  that  time,  for  it  was  new  and  just  in  its 
forming  state,  that  he  provided  for  his  family  where 
they  were,  and  spent  most  of  this  year  almost  entirely 
from  home.  His  labors  were  blessed  in  thia  new 
field  of  toil,  and  he  was  instrumental  in  planting 
Methodism  firmly  there. 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  499 

In  1830  he  was  appointed  to  the  Lebanon  circuit, 
and  he  acquitted  himself  as  an  able  and  useful  min- 
ister of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  edified  and  built  up 
the  Church  greatly.  In  1831  he  was  appointed  to 
Shoal  Creek  circuit,  with  our  beloved  Bishop  Ames, 
and  long  will  he  live  in  the  recollection  and  Christian 
remembrance  of  the  Methodists  of  Shoal  Creek  circuit. 
In  183*L  he  was  again  appointed  to  the  Lebanon 
circuit,  and  though  he  had  labored  long  and  preached 
much  to  that  people,  yet  they  received  him  as  a  mes- 
senger from  God  and  a  brother  beloved,  and  he  was 
useful. 

In  1833  he  was  appointed  to  the  Kaskaskia  circuit, 
where  he  was  the  instrument  of  great  good,  and  souls 
were  converted  to  God.  Brother  Dew  was  continued 
on  this  circuit  in  1834.  From  the  hard  fields  of 
labor  that  he  had  occupied,  and  the  little  support  he 
had  received,  with  a  young  and  growing  family,  in 
1835  he  located,  to  gather  means  of  support,  and  to 
enable  him  to  re-enter  the  itinerant  field,  for  his  soul 
was  filled  with  holy  fire,  and  he  longed  to  spread  the 
news  of  salvation  from  pole  to  pole. 

In  1836  he  was  appointed  President  of  M'Kendree 
College;  and  in  1837-38  he  was  readmitted  into  the 
traveling  connection,  and  appointed  to  the  Carlyle 
district  as  presiding  elder.  In  1839  he  was  appointed 
to  the  Lebanon  district,  where  he  finished  his 
useful  life,  after  an  illness  of  about  two  weeks.  On 
the  5th  of  September,  1840,  he  left  these  mortal 
shores  for  a  better  world,  relying  confidently  on  the 
goodness  and  mercy  of  God  for  his  salvation.  He 
left  an  amiable  wife  and  seven  children,  and  an  ex- 
tensive acquaintance  and  circle  of  devoted  friends  tv 
lament  their  loss. 

Brother   Dew   had   a   fine    order   of    talent   as   a 


500  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

preacher,  was  a  strong  theological  debater,  had  a 
clear  and  sound  mind,  and  was  well  qualified  to  de- 
fend the  doctrines  of  the  Bible  against  infidelity,  and 
the  doctrines  of  Methodism  against  all  sectarian 
assailants.  He  was  popular  and  useful  as  a  preacher, 
labored  hard,  suffered  much  in  spreading  the  Gos- 
pel, lived  beloved,  and  died  lamented  by  thousands; 
but  his  end  was  peace,  and  he  has  gone  safe  home  to 
heaven,  to  reap  his  eternal  reward. 


PETER    CARTWRIGHI  501 


CHAPTER    XXXI. 

GENERAL   CONFERENCE   IN   INDIANAPOLIS. 

IN  October,  1854,  our  Illinois  annual  conferenct 
was  held  in  Springfield,  the  seat  of  government,  and 
I  was  reappointed  to  the  Pleasant  Plains  district. 
This  was  a  year  of  general  peace,  and  some  prosperity 
to  the  Church.  I  think  we  numbered  about  foui 
hundred  conversions  in  the  district  this  year ;  and 
nearly  that  number  of  accessions  in  the  membership 
of  the  Church.  In  October,  1855,  our  annual  confer 
ence  was  held  in  Paris,  on  the  eastern  side  of  the 
state,  and  I  was  returned  for  the  third  year  on  the 
Pleasant  Plains  district,  which  was  now  enlarged 
from  seven  to  ten  circuits  and  stations.  Our  districts 
in  all  the  western  world  are  very  different  from  down 
east  and  north-east.  There  they  have  from  thirty  to 
forty  appointments  in  one  presiding  elder's  district ; 
most  of  their  quarterly  meetings  are  held  on  week- 
days or  evenings,  not  embracing  a  Sabbath.  The 
presiding  elder  goes  round  mostly  to  preside  in  trials 
of  complaints  or  appeals,  and  as  a  kind  of  fiscal  agent. 
Thus,  no  matter  how  talented  he  may  be,  his  labors 
and  usefulness  as  a  preacher  are  thrown  into  the 
shade  of  comparative  obscurity  ;  and  by  the  anti- 
Methodistic  usages  of  these  large  districts  the  pre- 
siding elder's  office  is  not  appreciated,  nor  can  it  be 
on  this  plan ;  hence  the  hue  and  cry  against  the 
office.  In  the  vast  west  there  is  a  Sabbath  embraced 
in  every  quarterly  me.eting  appointment,  and  a  pre- 


502  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

siding  cider's  services  are  properly  appreciated;  and 
if  these  northern  innovators  would  go  back  to  the  old 
landmarks  of  itinerancy,  and  not  make  so  many  little 
pop-gun,  forty-dollar  stations,  the  usefulness  of  pre- 
siding elders  would  now  be  as  it  was  in  the  palmy, 
prosperous  days  of  olden  times.  No  wonder  preach- 
ers and  people  complain  under  the  circumstances ; 
the  regular  work  is  cut  up  into  so  many  little  and 
comparatively  unimportant  stations,  and  so  poor 
withal,  that  the  support  of  the  ministry  is  fast  becom- 
ing burdensome.  Go  back  to  old  Methodist  preacher 
usages ;  let  every  quarterly  meeting  embrace  a  Sabbath, 
and  then  the  old  itinerant  missionary  will  work  well  j 
but  persist  in  cutting  up  the  work,  and  making  little 
stations,  then  appeal  to  the  cupidity  of  these  small 
fields  of  labor,  and  you  may  expect  the  table  of  the 
General  conference  to  groan  under  the  petitions  of 
the  oppressed,  to  change  the  office  of  presiding  elder, 
till  Congregationalism  is  the  order  of  the  day. 

This  annual  conference  was  the  fiftieth  that  I  was 
entitled  to  a  seat  in,  and  during  a  half  a  century  I  had 
never  missed  attending  but  one  of  our  annual  sessions, 
and  I  missed  this  one  by  sickness.  At  this  conference 
we  elected  our  delegates  to  attend  the  twelth  dele- 
gated General  conference,  which  sat  in  Indianapolis, 
May  1,  1856.  I  was  elected  among  five  other  dele- 
gates, and  this  made  the  eleventh  time  I  was 
elected  to  represent  the  interests  of  the  Methodis 
Episcopal  Church  in  that  body. 

There  were  over  two  hundred  and  twenty  delegates 
in  this  General  conference,  from  California  and  Ore 
i;on,  and  all  parts  of  the  United  States  and  territories. 
AVe  had  also  delegates  from  the  Wesleyan  Methodists 
in  E&j'.land,  and  from  Canada ;  also  from  Ireland ; 
brothoi  Jacoby,  from  Germany,  was  also  present. 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  vOS 

From  the  unhappy  political  agitations  of  our  coun- 
try, we  had  anticipated  troublous  times  in  the 
General  conference,  especially  on  the  subject  of 
American  slavery.  Many  of  our  preachers  who  were 
strongly  opposed  to  slavery,  had  suffered  themselves 
to  become  too  much  excited  by  designing  demagogues 
Now,  it  ought  to  be  distinctly  understood  by  all  the 
people,  and  especially  by  Methodist  preachers,  that 
these  demagogues  care  very  little  about  human  liberty, 
or  the  freedom  of  the  poor  downtrodden  African. 
No ;  they  are  after  the  loaves  and  fishes,  or  the  spoils 
of  office;  and  while  they  are  riveting  the  chains  of 
the  poor  negro  ten  times  tighter  than  ever  before, 
and  threatening  to  rupture  this  Union,  what  do  they 
care,  if  they  can  ride  triumphantly  into  office  and 
suck  the  public  pap?  Just  nothing  at  all.  But  on 
this,  and  almost  all  other  long-tried  and  prosperous 
regulations  of  our  beloved  rules  and  disciplinary 
regulations,  there  were  found  aboard  the  old  ship 
ministers  enough  to  keep  the  old,  well-tried  vessel 
well  trimmed,  and  leaving  in  the  distance  these 
innovators  and  spoilers  of  ancient  Methodism.  So 
may  it  ever  be ! 

Just  so  sure  as  a  leaden  ball  tends  to  the  earth  in 
obedience  to  the  laws  of  gravity,  so  sure  the  multi- 
plying of  our  stations  tends  to  locality  and  Congrega- 
tionalism. Better,  far  better,  for  the  Methodist 
Church  this  day  that  we  never  had  a  station.  Put 
all  the  work  in  circuits,  and  put  on  as  many  preachers 
as  the  people  need,  and  are  able  to  support,  and  let 
the  Church  be  blessed  with  the  spice  of  variety  and 
a  constant  interchange  of  preachers.  There  were 
several  changes  in  the  vital  economy  of  the  itinerant 
system  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  by  which 
we  have  successfully  spread  the  Gospel  without  a 


^04  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

parallel  in  the  history  of  any  branch  of  the  Christian 
Church  since  the  apostolic  day.  I  hope  to  be  borne 
with  while  I  make  a  few  remarks  on  these  matters. 

At  our  late  General  conference  there  were  some 
of  the  preachers  who  wanted  a  change  in  the  time  a 
preacher  might  remain  in  a  station  or  on  a  circuit; 
namely,  from  two  to  three  years.  They  urged  the 
propriety  of  this  change,  First.  Because  it  would  drive 
him  to  reading  and  study  in  order  to  keep  up  a  variety 
for  his  hearers.  Secondly.  That  two  years  was  too 
short  a  time  to  become  acquainted  with  his  flock,  so 
as  to  become  a  profitable  pastor.  Thirdly.  They 
urged  that  the  Canadian  Methodist  Church,  our  own 
child,  or  the  daughter  of  Episcopal  Methodism  in  these 
United  States,  had  lengthened  out  the  time  that  a 
preacher  might  remain  in  the  same  charge  from  one 
to  five  years,  and  that  the  Wesleyan  Methodist 
Church  in  England,  who  is  the  grandmother  of  the 
Canadian  Methodist  Church,  had  changed  the  term 
of  service,  and  that  it  worked  well ;  therefore  it  would 
work  well  among  us. 

To  this  I  reply,  First.  That  from  fifty  years'  experi- 
ence, I  find  that  the  return  of  a  preacher,  even  the 
second  year,  to  an  appointment  is  not  as  profitable  as 
the  first.  Secondly.  If  a  preacher  from  sheer  neces- 
sity is  to  be  driven  to  his  books,  and  study  in  order 
to  keep  up  an  interesting  and  profitable  variety,  there 
will  be  but  little  pastoral  duty  performed,  and  but 
little  spirituality  in  these  forced  sermons,  and  a  great 
deal  of  his  preaching  will  be  mere  lecturing,  and  but 
little  real  spiritual  sermonizing.  Thirdly.  The  Cana- 
dian Methodist  Church,  our  child  or  daughter,  when 
she  requested  to  be  set  oft'  as  a  separate  Church  from 
us,  on  account  of  the  civil  disabilities  under  which 
Bhe  labored,  instead  of  following  the  illustrious  foot- 


PETER    CA  it  T  WRIGHT.  50i) 

steps  of  her  mother,  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
in  these  United  States,  in  relation  to  the  time  that  her 
preachers  might  remain  in  a  charge  for  consecutive 
years,  flung  herself  into  the  arms  of  her  grandmother 
the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church  in  England,  and  as 
the  grandmother  is  generally  supposed  to  be  some- 
what in  dotage,  and  seldom,  if  ever,  qualified  to  raise 
grandchildren  aright,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that 
these  Canadians  borrowed  this  radical  innovation  on 
the  itinerant  plan  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
from  a  dotard  grandmother;  and  however  well  it  may 
work  in  Canada  or  old  England,  it  can  have  no  other 
effect  in  these  United  States  but  to  localize  our 
preachers,  and  finally  destroy  our  itinerant  system; 
and  whenever  this  is  done,  farewell  to  the  triumphant 
success  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

There  was  another  regulation  introduced  into  our 
late  General  conference  on  which  I  wish  to  remark; 
I  mean  the  admitting  into  membership  and  ordaining 
preachers  who  are  appointed  to  presidencies  and  pro- 
fessorships in  our  universities,  colleges,  and  various 
institutions  of  learning,  without  having  traveled  a 
single  day,  or  having  a  pastoral  charge  as  a  traveling 
preacher;  these  men,  without  undergoing  any  of  the 
privations  or  sacrifices  of  an  itinerant  life,  are  settled 
down  with  large  salaries.  Our  colleges  are  rapidly 
multiplying,  and  I  hope  they  will  continue  to  do  so; 
but  who  does  not  see  that  in  a  few  years  our  local 
agents,  presidents,  and  professors  may  form  even  a 
majority  of  our  annual  conferences?  and  then  the 
itinerant  system  will  be  very  much  like  a  man  riding 
a  race  with  the  reins  of  his  horse's  bridle  tied  to  a 
stump.  It  is  wrong,  fundamentally  wrong.  The 
itinerant  should  be  kept  pure  and  unincumbered,  and 
we  should  look  out  men  to  serve  tables,  or  education 


506  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

if  vou  please,  but  our  itinerant  men  should  give  them- 
selves wholly  to  the  ministry  of  the  word.  These 
are  politically  and  religiously  perilous  times,  and 
there  is  a  solemn  crisis  on  the  Church,  but  I  hope 
God  will  guide  the  ship  of  state  and  Church.  But 
surely  this  is  no  time  to  abandon  old  and  long-tried 
usages  for  novel  experiments 


PETER   CARTWRIGHT.  507 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

CONVERSION    OP  AN    INFIDEL    DOCTOR. 

SOMEWHERE  about  thirty-five  years  ago,  while  I  wa. 
traveling  on  the  Cumberland  district,  in  West  Ten 

nessee,  there  lived  a  Dr. ,  who  was  wealthy,  and 

immensely  popular  as  a  practicing  physician.  He 
had  a  large  practice;  he  was  gentlemanly  in  his  man- 
ners, hospitable,  and  kind.  His  family  were  very  re- 
spectable; his  wife  was  a  devoted  Christian  and  a 
faithful  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
They  lived  in  affluence;  they  were  benevolent  and 
liberal  in  the  support  of  the  Gospel.  I  was  intro- 
duced to  the  Doctor  and  his  amiable  family  at  a 
camp  meeting,  which  was  held  a  few  miles  from  his 
residence.  Having  a  few  days  to  rest  between  my 
camp  meetings,  the  Doctor  and  family  cordially  in- 
vited me  to  spend  those  rest  days  at  his  house,  and  I 
consented  to  do  so.  When  our  camp  meeting  closed, 
in  company  with  several  other  preachers,  I  repaired 
to  the  Doctor's  habitation.  We  were  received  cor- 
dially and  treated  princely.  There  was  every  thing 
earthly  to  make  one  comfortable.  The  family,  black 
and  white,  were  called  in  to  family  worship  night  and 
morning,  and  when  we  surrounded  their  bountiful 
table  we  were  invited  to  ask  a  blessing,  and  to  return 
thanks.  The  next  morning,  after  we  had  breakfasted, 
as  we  were  seated  in  the  parlor,  the  Doctor  informed 
me  that  he  was  a  total  unbeliever  in  the  Christian 
religion;  that  he  had  read  the  Bible  through  and 


608  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

through  again  and  again,  and  that  he  could  not  re- 
ceive it  as  a  revelation  from  God;  that  he  liked  the 
morals  that  the  Christian  system  inculcated;  he  liked 
to  encourage  the  Gospel,  because  of  the  good  moral 
influence  it  had  upon  mankind;  that  he  felt  it  not 
only  a  charity,  but  a  positive  duty  to  support  the 
Gospel;  first,  because  it  taught  a  pious  reverence  to- 
ward God;  secondly,  because  it  breathed  peace  and 
good-will  to  all  mankind;  thirdly,  because  it  taught 
truth,  virtue,  honesty,  and  benevolence  in  all  the  civil, 
social,  and  moral  relations  of  man  as  he  stood  account- 
able to  his  God,  and  as  he  stood  connected  with  or 
related  to  all  mankind. 

Now,  my  gentle  reader,  you  may  well  imagine  that 
I  felt  a  little  surprised,  arid  that  I  felt  greatly  the 
need  of  right  words,  or  rather  strong  arguments  and 
soft  words,  and,  after  pausing  for  a  moment,  I  looked 
the  Doctor  full  in  the  face  and  said, 

"  Doctor,  I  hope  you  believe  there  is  a  God.   Do  you  ?" 

"  Certainly,"  was  his  reply. 

"Doctor,  do  you  believe  that  God  is  too  wise  to 
err,  and  too  good  to  inflict  pain  or  misery  of  any  kind 
on  his  innocent  and  unoffending  creatures?" 

"Certainly  I  do,  sir." 

"Well  now,  Doctor,  will  you  be  good  enough,  lay- 
ing the  Bible  aside,  to  tell  me  how  a  wise  and  good 
God  could  push  into  existence  a  race  of  human  beings, 
subject  to  all  kinds  of  mental,  moral,  and  physical 
wretchedness,  «aisery,  and  woe?  If  he  is  wise,  just, 
holy,  and  supremely  good,  how  could  innocent  man, 
coming  immediately  from  the  plastic  hand  of  his  God, 
be  filled  with  so  many  unholy  and  impure  passions  as 
we  see  human  nature  heir  to?" 

"I  must  confess,"  said  the  Doctor,  "I  can  not  ac- 
count for  it;  it  is  wrapped  in  inexplicable  mystery." 


PETER    CARTWRIQHT.  509 

"Well,  Doctor,  seeing  God  is  supremely  good  and 
wise,  and  seeing  that  man  is  limited  in  all  his  powers 
of  mind  and  body,  and  subject  to  so  much  misery 
and  so  many  errors  in  judgment  and  practice,  can 
we  not  well  imagine  that  God,  who  is  the  supreme 
source  of  all  moral  excellence,  and  whose  tender 
mercies  are  over  all  his  works,  would  be  moved  by 
the  benignant  laws  of  his  own  eternal  nature,  after 
having  created  man  for  his  own  pleasure,  with  all  his 
liability  to  err  and  his  susceptibility  to  evil,  would  be 
prompted  to  give  to  this  feeble  race  a  rule  of  faith 
and  practice?  And  what  else  is  the  Bible?  Nay, 
would  it  not  throw  eternally  into  the  shade  all  the 
perfections  of  God,  at  whose  almighty  fiat  teeming 
millions  of  erring  human  beings  have  taken  their 
existence  in  the  world,  and  who  have  no  power  to 
control  or  prevent  their  own  existence,  if  that  God 
should  leare  these  millions  to  wander  in  the  mazes 
of  animal  passion  without  a  well-defined  revealed  rule 
of  faith  and  practice?" 

The  Doctor  paused,  and  made  a  sorry  reply.  I  saw 
I  had  made  a  breach  in  his  supposed  impregnable 
wall,  behind  which  he  had  intrenched  himself,  with 
all  his  boasted  infidelity.  I  saw  there  was  not  a 
moment  to  be  lost;  and  with  haste  I  commenced  re- 
adjusting my  battering-rams,  that  in  my  next  onset  I 
might  widen  the  breach,  and  enter  the  citadel,  and 
take  my  infidel  doctor  prisoner,  and  silence  all  his 
opposition  to  truth,  when  all  of  a  sudden  he  said, 
"Mr.  Cartwright,  I  know  you  are  a  man  of  reason 
and  good  sense;  and  I  think  I  c&n  prove  to  you,  be- 
yond the  power  of  successful  COE  iradiction,  that  there 
is  no  such  thing  as  experimental^  religion,  and  that  it 
is  all  imagination  and  delusion." 

"Very  well,  Doctor;  try  it." 


610  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

"Well,  sir,"  said  he,  "does  not  all  knowledge, 
either  human  or  divine^  depend  upon  sensible  evi 
dence  ?" 

<  Yes,  sir." 

•*  Does  not  faith,  human  or  divine,  depend  on  cred- 
ible evidence?" 

"Yes,  sir." 

"  Well,"  said  he,  "  I  will  state  a  plain,  unsophisti- 
cated case.  Suppose  you  were  called  upon,  as  a 
judge  or  juror,  to  decide  a  case  in  litigation,  and 
there  were  five  witnesses  introduced,  all  of  them 
honorable,  high-minded  men,  whose  veracity  was 
never  called  in  question,  and  who  stood  unimpeached 
and  unimpeachable  every-where ;  whose  known  integ- 
rity and  intelligence  were  admitted  on  all  sides;  and 
suppose  a  matter  in  controversy  was  brought  before 
you,  and  these  five  witnesses  were  introduced  as 
credible  evidence;  and  one  of  the  witnesses  deposed 
to  the  facts  as  stated  by  the  plaintiff,  A.,  and  then  the 
other  four  came  forward,  and  with  equal  clearness 
deposed  to  the  facts  as  claimed  by  the  defendant,  13. 
Now,  sir,"  continued  the  Doctor,  "all  things  being 
equal,  so  far  as  the  intelligence,  truth,  and  veracity 
of  the  witnesses  are  concerned,  how  would  you  decide 
the  case?  Would  you  not  instantly  decide  that  all 
the  probabilities  and  all  the  possibilities  were  in  favor 
of  the  four  who  deposed  to  the  facts  stated  by  the  de- 
fendant, and  that  the  one  lone  witness  who  deposed  to 
the  facts  claimed  by  the  plaintiff  must,  to  a  certainty, 
be  mistaken?" 

I  replied,  "It  is  altogether  likely  I  should  give 
judgment  for  the  defendant,  B." 

"Well,  now,  sir,"  said  the  Doctor,  "you  contend 
that  the  Christian  religion  is  an  experimental  fart, 
and  that  all  Christians  have  sensible  evidence  of  a 


PETER    CARTWRIQHT.  511 

change  of  heart,  which  you  call  religion.  Man  has 
five  senses ;  namely,  seeing,  hearing,  tasting,  smelling, 
and  feeling.  On  the  united  and  concurrent  testimony 
of  these  five  senses,  or  witnesses,  all  knowledge  of 
experimental  religion  depends ;  and  all  professions  of 
the  knowledge  of  facts  that  can  not  be  proved  by 
these  witnesses,  must  be  fallacious,  and,  therefore,  a 
deception.  Now,  sir,"  said  the  Doctor,  "permit  me 
to  ask  you  a  few  serious  and  solemn  questions ;  and  I 
demand  honest  and  unequivocal  answers,  direct.  Did 
you  ever  see  religion?" 

I  answered,  "No." 

"Did  you  ever  hear  religion?" 

"No." 

"Did  you  ever  smell  religion?" 

"No." 

"Did  you  ever  taste  religion?" 

"No." 

"Did  you  ever  feel  religion?" 

"Yes." 

"Now,  then,"  said  the  Doctor,  with  /.pparent  tri 
mnph,  "I  have  proved,  beyond  a  do^bt,  by  foui 
respectable  witnesses,  that  religion  is  not  seen,  hcard^ 
smelled,  or  tasted  ;  and  but  one  lone,  solitary  witness, 
namely,  feeling,  has  testified  that  it  is  an  experimental 
fact.  The  weight  of  evidence  is  overpowering,  sir, 
and  you  must  give  it  up." 

I  paused,  and  seemed  to  be  astonished  and  greatly 
perplexed ;  but  recovering  myself  a  littk,  I  said, 
"Doctor,  are  you  willing  that  your  principles  ami 
professional  practice  shall  be  tested  by  the  dame  ar- 
ray of  testimony  as  you  have  adduced  to  overthrow 
revealed  religion  ?" 

"Yes,  sir." 

"Well,  sir,  you  profess  to  understand  the  science 


512  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

of  medicine.  You  have  had,  and  now  have,  a  large 
and  lucrative  practice.  You  profess  to  have  cured 
various  and  complicated  diseases,  and  to  have  re- 
lieved and  removed  many  pains,  in  the  complicated 
forms  in  which  they  have  attacked  the  human  system ; 
and  you  have  amassed  a  princely  fortune  by  you" 
successful  practice." 

"All  true,"  said  the  Doctor 

"Well,  sir,  do  you  not  know  that  you  have  bee 
playing  the  hypocrite,  and  practicing  a  most  wretched 
fraud  on  the  gullibility  of  the  people  ?" 

"  No,  sir,"  he  replied,  very  fiercely. 

"Why,  Doctor,"  said  I,  "a  man  of  your  profound 
science  and  research  must  certainly  know  that  there 
is  no  such  thing  as  pain  in  the  human  system ;  and 
though  ignorant  people  have  thought  so,  yet  you 
know  better ;  and  whenever  you  have  visited  poor 
dupes,  that  thought  they  were  in  great  pain,  and 
administered  medicine  to  them,  and  thus  persuaded 
them  that  you,  by  your  medical  skill,  had  removed 
their  pains,  and  charged  them  large  bills,  you  cer- 
tainly knew  you  were  practicing  a  fraud  on  them, 
and  getting  their  money  under  false  pretense ;  for 
you  certainly  knew  that  there  was  no  such  thing  as 
pain." 

Said  the  Doctor,  rather  fiercely,  "I  certainly  know 
no  such  thing,  sir." 

I  replied,  "Well,  Doctor,  I  will  ask  a  few  quesv 
tions,  if  you  please,  and  I  demand  honest  and  promj  t 
answers." 

"Very  well,"  said  the  Doctor. 

"Well,  sir,  did  you  ever  see  a  pain?' 

"No,  sir." 

"Did  you  ever  hear  a  pain?" 

"No,  sir." 


PETER    CARTW\T«HT.  513 

"Did  you  ever  smell  a  pain?" 

"No,  sir." 

"Did  you  ever  taste  a  pain?" 

"No,  sir." 

"  Did  you  ever  feel  a  pain  ?" 

"  Certainly  I  did,  sir." 

By  this  time  I  had  well-nigh  taken  the  wind  ou 
of  the  Doctor's  sails,  and  his  countenance  betrayed 
confusion,  but  I  rallied  him,  and  said,  "Do  not  be 
alarmed,  Doctor;  four  respectable  witnesses  have  tes- 
tified that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  pain  in  the  hu- 
man system,  and  but  one  lone  witness  has  deposed 
that  there  is ;  therefore,  the  idea  of  there  being  pain 
in  the  physical  system  of  man  is  fallacious,  and  there 
is  no  reality  in  the  thing;  and  you  ought  to  go  and 
restore  the  money  you  have  taken  from  them,  and  ac- 
knowledge the  fraud  you  have  practiced  on  them,  and 
do  so  no  more;  and  I  charge  you,  as  an  honest  man, 
to  do  it,  and  quit  those  fraudulent  practices." 

During  almost  all  this  conversation  with  the  Doctor, 
his  wife  and  family  sat  arouod  and  listened  with  pro- 
found attention,  and  I  frequently  saw  the  tears  cours- 
ing down  the  cheeks  of  the  Doctor's  wife.  The  Doctor 
became  mute,  and  remained  silent  for  a  considerable 
time.  I  turned  my  conversation  to  the  Doctor's  wife 
and  children.  Just  at  that  moment  the  Lord,  in  a 
very  powerful  manner,  blessed  the  pious  wife  of  the 
Doctor,  and  she  shouted  aloud  and  blessed  God  for  re- 
vealed religion.  She  ran  and  threw  her  arms  around 
her  husband's  neck,  and  exhorted  him,  with  stream- 
ing eyes  and  words  that  burned,  to  be  reconciled  to 
God.  I  said,  Let  us  all  kneel  and  pray.  The  Doctor 
fell  on  his  knees  and  wept  like  a  child,  and  prayed 
fervently.  The  great  deep  of  his  heart  was  broken 
up,  his  infidelity  gave  way,  and,  for  the  first  time  in 
33 


614  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

his  life,  he  wept  and  prayed.  All  day  after  this  he 
seemed  to  be  melted  into  childlike  simplicity.  He 
fled  to  the  woods,  and  earnestly  sought  salvation. 
That  night,  after  prayer,  he  retired  to  bed,  but  not  to 
sleep,  for  he  prayed  as  in  agony;  and  about  midnight 
God  spoke  peace  to  his  troubled  soul,  and  we  all 
awoke  and  got  up,  and  joined  in  prayer  and  praise. 
Such  thrilling  shouts  I  seldom  ever  heard  from  the 
lips  of  mortal  man.  His  conversion  was  the  begin- 
ning of  a  glorious  revival  of  religion  in  the  settlement, 
and  many  were  the  souls  saved  by  grace.  Many  of 
the  Doctor's  slaves  obtained  religion,  and  many  others 
of  the  slaves  in  the  neighborhood.  The  Doctor  fitted 
out  and  sent  most  of  his  slaves  to  Liberia.  Thank 
God  that  I  ever  had  the  privilege  of  preaching  the 
Gospel  to  slaves  and  slaveholders!  Religion  always 
makes  better  slaves  and  better  masters,  and  will  se 
cure  the  freedom  of  more  slaves  than  all  the  run-mad 
abolitionism  in  the  world.  The  Doctor  shortly  after 
was  licensed  to  preach,  and  lived  a  pious,  useful  life. 
God  gave  him  many  seals  to  his  ministry.  He  has 
long  since  fallen  on  sleep,  and  gone  home  to  Abraham's 
bosom,  while  I  am  left  to  linger  on  the  shores  of  time 
a  little  longer;  but  while  I  pen  this  little  sketch  my 
heart  grows  warm  with  holy  fire ;  and  I  hope  soon  to 
meet  the  Doctor  and  his  lovely  family  in  heaven,  with 
many,  very  many,  of  the  spiritual  children  God  has 
given  me.  Amen. 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  615 


CHAPTER  XXXIH. 

METHODIST    USAGES. 

i  WISH  to  say  a  few  things  in  this  chapter  on  th«> 
usages  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  When  1 
joined  the  Church  her  ministers  and  members  were 
a  plain  people;  plain  in  dress  and  address.  You 
could  know  a  Methodist  preacher  by  his  plain  dress 
as  far  as  you  could  see  him.  The  members  were  also 
plain,  very  plain  in  dress.  They  wore  no  jewelry, 
nor  were  they  permitted  to  wear  jewelry,  or  superflu- 
ous ornament,  or  extravagant  dress  of  any  kind,  and 
this  was  the  rule  by  which  we  walked,  whether  poor 
or  rich,  young  or  old;  and  although  we  knew  then  as 
well  as  we  do  now,  that  the  religion  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  did  not  consist  in  dress,  or  the  cut  of  the  gar- 
ment, yet  we  then  knew  and  know  now  that  extrav- 
agant dress  and  superfluous  ornaments  engender 
pride,  and  lead  to  many  hurtful  lusts,  directly  at  war 
with  that  humility  and  godly  example  that  becomes 
our  relation  to  Christ,  that  so  pre-eminently  becomes 
Christians.  Moreover,  when  we  look  around  us,  and 
see  the  perishing  millions  of  our  fallen  race  dying 
in  their  sins  for  the  want  of  a  preached  Gospel,  and 
that  this  Gospel  is  not  sent  to  them  for  want  of  means 
to  support  the  missionary,  may  we  not  well  question 
whether  we  are  doing  right  in  the  sight  of  God  in 
adorning  our  bodies  with  all  this  costly  and  extrava- 
gant dressing?  Would  it  not  be  more  godlike  or 
Christian-like  to  give  our  money,  laid  out  in  these 


516  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    Of 

unnecessary  ornaments,  to  send  the  Gospel  to  the 
poor,  perishing  millions  that  have  souls  to  be  saved 
or  lost  forever,  and  will  not  God  hold  us  accountable 
for  the  use  of  those  means  and  moneys  that  he  has 
given  us?  and  would  not  the  simple  fund  that  might 
be  created  by  disposing  of  the  ornaments  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Methodist  Church  alone,  send  the  Gospel 
to  hundreds  of  thousands,  who  must  perish  in  all  prob- 
ability for  the  want  of  this  little  Christian  sacrifice  by 
the  professed  lovers  of  Christ?  The  apostle  James 
says,  "Whether  ye  eat,  or  drink,  or  whatsoever  ye 
do,  do  all  to  the  glory  of  God."  Now  apply  this  rule 
to  your  consciences,  and  I  have  no  doubt  your  piety 
will  decide  in  favor  of  the  sacrifice  you  ought  to 
make,  and  the  good  example  you  ought  to  set. 

The  duty  of  family  prayer  is  a  very  important  one 
to  the  Christian.  God  has  given  the  head  of  the 
family  a  very  important  and  responsible  position.  It 
is  a  question  very  fairly  settled,  that  from  the  early 
ages  of  the  Christian  religion,  family  prayer  was  re- 
pired  and  expected  of  all  who  professed  godliness. 
If  we  are  to  bring  up  our  children  in  the  nurture  and 
admonition  of  the  Lord,  and  if  we  and  our  household 
are  professionally  bound  to  serve  the  Lord,  how  can 
we  be  innocent  before  God  and  our  families,  and 
habitually  neglect  this  duty?  One  of  the  great  wants 
of  the  Church  at  this  day  is  the  want  of  more  family 
religion;  and  lias  not  God  threatened  to  "pour  out  his 
wrath  and  fury  upon  the  families  that  call  not  on  big 
name?"  How  many  happy  thousands  of  children 
will  bless  God  forever  for  family  prayer,  or,  in  other 
words,  for  praying  parents,  who,  morning  and  evening, 
called  their  little  ones  around  them,  and  bowed  down 
before  God,  and  prayed  with  and  for  them!  0, 
parents,  think  of  the  happy  results  of  the  discharge 


PETER    CART  WRIGHT.  617 

of  this  duty!  Many  of  your  children  will  thank 
you  in  heaven  forever,  for  praying  for  them  in  your 
families. 

And  yet  lam  sorry  to  hear  that  many  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  shamefully 
neglect  this  sacred  duty  of  praying  in  their  families. 
How  shall  we  answer  it  to  God  ?  Is  not  this  one 
among  many  other  reasons,  why  so  many  of  our 
members  feel  almost  entirely  unprepared  to  enter 
into  the  work  of  the  Lord  in  times  of  revival,  when 
God  pours  out  his  Spirit  and  convicts  sinners  among 
us  ?  and  perhaps  if  we  prayed  more  at  home,  we 
would  be  better  prepared  to  hear  the  Gospel  of  our 
salvation  when  we  attend  Church.  Let  no  business, 
let  no  company  that  visits  you,  turn  you  away  from 
or  cause  you  to  neglect  this  duty ;  have  your  family 
altar  firmly  fixed,  and  your  sacrifice  always  on  it,  and 
then  look  up,  and  in  the  very  act  of  asking,  expect 
God  to  send  down  the  holy  fire  and  consume  your 
sacrifice,  be  it  great  or  small.  I  long  to  see  the  time 
come  when  God  shall  abundantly  revive  family  re- 
ligion in  the  Church;  then,  and  perhaps  not  till  then, 
shall  we  see  better  and  more  glorious  times  of  the 
work  of  God  among  us. 

Prayer  meetings  have  accomplished  great  good,  as 
practiced  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church ;  but  are 
they  not  growing  into  disuse  among  us?  Some  of 
my  earliest  recollections  are  those  Methodist  prayer 
meetings,  where  men  and  women,  young  and  old, 
prayed  in  public.  We  know  there  have  been  fash- 
ionable objections  to  females  praying  in  public,  but  1 
am  sure  I  do  not  exaggerate  when  I  say  I  have  often 
seen  our  dull  and  stupid  prayer  meetings  suddenly 
changed  from  a  dead  clog  to  a  heavenly  enjoyment, 
when  a  sister  has  been  called  on  to  pray,  who  has 


518  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

reverently  bowed  and  taken  up  the  cross,  and  utter- 
ance was  given  her  that  was  heavenly,  and  she 
prayed  with  words  that  burned,  and  the  baptismal 
fire  rolled  all  around;  while  the  house  and  all  the 
praying  company  were  baptized  from  heaven,  many 
sinners,  tall  and  stout-hearted  sinners,  have  been 
brought  to  quake  and  tremble  before  God,  and  have 
cried  for  mercy,  and  while  crying  have  found  peace 
with  God  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Many 
weeping  mourners  in  those  prayer  meetings  have 
found  the  blessed  pardon  of  all  their  sins;  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Church  have  also  been  greatly  blessed, 
and  have  gone  on  their  way  rejoicing  in  the  Lord. 

One  of  the  best  revivals  I  ever  knew  was  com- 
menced and  carried  on  by  a  prayer  meeting  among 
the  members  of  the  Church  without  any  preaching 
at  all.  The  society  felt  that  they  were  on  back 
ground,  and  they  covenanted  to  meet  every  evening 
for  a  week,  and  have  public  prayer  and  pray  for  a 
revival.  The  first  night  God  met  them  and  blessed 
many  of  their  souls ;  the  second  night  the  Lord  very 
powerfully  converted  two  souls ;  the  meeting  went 
on  then  for  about  twenty  days  and  nights,  and  from 
one  to  twelve  were  converted  at  every  coming  to- 
gether. The  Saturday  and  Sunday  on  which  their 
meeting  closed,  they  sent  for  me  to  gather  up  the 
fragments,  that  nothing  be  lost.  On  Saturday  I  read 
our  General  Rules,  and  explained  them,  and  showed 
the  principles  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
On  Sunday  I  preached  on  baptism,  and  opened  the 
doors,  and  received  one  hundred  and  nineteen  into 
the  Church,  and  baptized  forty-seven  adults  and  thirty 
children  in  the  altar,  and  then  marcned  off  to  the 
creek  and  immersed  twenty-seven,  making  in  all  one 
hundred  and  nineteen  accessions  on  trial,  and  one 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  519 

hundred  and  four  baptized ;  this  was  the  fruit  of  a 
prayer  meeting. 

Class  meetings  have  been  owned  and  blessed  of 
God  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  from 
inoie  than  fifty  years*  experience,  I  doubt  whether 
any  one  means  of  grace  has  proved  as  successful  in 
building  up  the  Methodist  Church  as  this  blessed 
privilege.  For  many  years  we  kept  them  with  closed 
doors,  and  suffered  none  to  remain  in  class  meeting 
more  than  twice  or  thrice  unless  they  signified  a  de- 
sire to  join  the  Church.  In  these  class  meetings  the 
weak  have  been  made  strong ;  the  bowed  down  have 
been  raised  up;  the  tempted  have  found  delivering 
grace ;  the  doubting  mind  has  had  all  its  doubts  and 
fears  removed,  and  the  whole  class  have  found  that 
this  was  "none  other  than  the  house  of  God.  and  the 
gate  of  heaven."  Here  the  hard  heart  has  been  ten- 
dered, the  cold  heart  warmed  with  holy  fire;  here 
the  dark  mind,  beclouded  with  trial  and  temptation, 
has  had  every  cloud  rolled  away,  and  the  Sun  of 
righteousness  has  risen  with  resplendent  glory,  "  with 
healing  in  his  wings;"  and  in  these  class  meetings 
many  seekers  of  religion  have  found  them  the  spirit- 
ual birthplace  of  their  souls  into  the  heavenly  family, 
and  their  dead  souls  made  alive  to  God. 

Every  Christian  that  enjoys  religion,  and  that  de- 
sires to  feel  its  mighty  comforts,  if  he  understands  the 
nature  of  them  really,  loves  them  and  wishes  to  at- 
tend them.  But  how  sadly  are  these  class  meetings 
neglected  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church!  Are 
there  not  thousands  of  our  members  who  habitually 
neglect  to  attend  them,  and  is  it  any  wonder  that  so 
many  of  our  members  grow  cold  and  careless  in  re- 
ligion, and  finally  backslide?  Is  it  not  for  the  want 
of  enforcing  our  rules  on  class  meetings  that  their 


620  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

usefulness  is  destroyed  ?  Are  there  not  a  great  many 
worldly-minded,  proud,  fashionable  members  of  our 
Church,  who  merely  have  the  name  of  Methodist,  that 
are  constantly  crying  out  and  pleading  that  attend- 
ance on  class  meetings  should  not  be  a  test  of  mem- 
bership in  the  Church?  And  now,  before  God,  are 
not  many  of  our  preachers  at  fault  in  this  matter? 
they  neglect  to  meet  the  classes  themselves,  and  they 
keep  many  class-leaders  in  office  that  will  not  attend 
to  their  duty;  and  is  it  not  fearful  to  see  our  preach- 
ers so  neglectful  of  their  duty  in  dealing  with  the 
thousands  of  our  delinquent  members  who  stay  away 
from  class  meetings  weeks,  months,  and  for  years? 
Just  as  sure  as  our  preachers  neglect  their  duty  in 
enforcing  the  rules  on  class  meetings  on  our  leaders 
and  members,  just  so  sure  the  power  of  religion  will 
be  lost  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  0  for 
faithful,  holy  preachers,  and  faithful,  holy  class-lead- 
ers! Then  we  shall  have  faithful,  holy  members. 
May  the  time  never  come  when  class  meetings  shall 
be  laid  aside  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  or 
when  these  class  meetings,  or  an  attendance  on  them, 
shall  cease  to  be  a  test  of  membership  among  us!  1 
beg  and  beseech  class-leaders  to  be  punctual  in  at- 
tending their  classes,  and  if  any  of  their  members  stay 
away  from  any  cause,  hunt  them  up,  find  out  the 
cause  of  their  absence,  pray  with  them  and  urge  them 
to  the  all-important  duty  of  regularly  attending  class 
meeting.  Much,  very  much,  depends  on  faithful  and 
religious  class-leaders;  and  how  will  the  unfaithful 
class-leader  stand  in  the  judgment  of  the  great  day, 
when  by  his  neglect  many  of  his  members  will  huve 
backslidden,  and  will  be  finally  lost? 


PETER   CART  WEIGHT. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

CONCLUSION. 

IN  1803,  or  fifty-three  years  since,  next  fall,  I  started 
to  travel  and  preach  the  Gospel,  being  employed  by 
a  presiding  elder,  in  my  eighteenth  year.  I  traveled 
five  years  as  a  single  man.  I  then  married,  and  have 
traveled  forty-eight  years  as  a  married  man.  My 
tvife  has  had  nine  children ;  seven  daughters  and  two 
sons.  We  raised  eight  of  those  children;  lost  one 
lovely  little  daughter  in  her  minority,  but  have  lived 
to  see  all  the  rest  married,  though  one  has  died  since 
she  married,  but  died  in  peace.  We  have  now  living 
thirty-eight  grandchildren  and  eight  great-grandchil- 
dren. All  our  children  are  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  and,  we  hope,  are  trying  to  be  religious;  sev- 
eral of  our  grandchildren  are  also  in  the  Church,  and 
trying  to  serve  God  and  get  to  heaven.  Forty-eight 
years  ago  I  was  appointed  presiding  elder  by  Bishop 
Asbury;  and,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  years,  have 
been  presiding  elder  up  to  this  time,  and  am  perhaps 
the  oldest  presiding  elder  in  all  the  western  country. 
I  have  seen  fifty-three  sessions  of  annual  conferences, 
and  never  missed  but  one.  I  have  been  elected  to 
eleven  General  conferences,  from  1816  to  1856. 

When  I  started  as  a  traveling  preacher,  a  single 
preacher  was  allowed  to  receive  eighty  dollars  per 
annum,  if  his  circuit  would  give  it  to  him;  but  single 
preachers  in  those  days  seldom  received  over  thirty 
or  forty  dollars,  and  ofteu  much  less  j  and  had  it  not 


622  AUTOBIOGRAPHY     OF 

been  for  a  few  presents  made  us  by  the  benevolent 
friends  of  the  Church,  and  a  few  dollars  we  made  as 
marriage  fees,  we  must  have  suffered  much  more  than 
we  did.  But  the  Lord  provided;  and,  strange  as  it 
may  appear  to  the  present  generation,  we  got  alon 
without  starving,  or  going  naked. 

I  wish  here  to  give  a  statement  of  my  success,  and 
loss  and  gain,  as  a  Methodist  traveling  preacher,  for 
fifty-three  years,  though  I  know  it  will  be  imperfect; 
but  it  shall  be  as  perfect  as  my  old  musty  and  rusty 
account  scraps  will  permit.  And  in  the  first  place,  I 
have  lacked,  in  the  fifty-three  years,  of  my  disciplin- 
ary allowance,  about  $5,000;  loss  in  horses  to  travel 
with,  $1,000;  loss  in  the  sale  of  religious  books,  $200; 
loss  in  money,  of  which  I  was  robbed,  $150;  loss  in 
clothing  stolen  from  me,  $50.  Total  loss,  $6,400. 

I  sold  about  $10,000  worth  of  books:  my  per  cent- 
age  on  these  books  would  net  me  about  $1,000 ;  made 
in  marriage  fees,  $500;  presents  in  money,  clothing, 
horses,  etc.,  $500.  Total,  $2,000. 
.  Given  by  me  for  the  erection  of  churches  and  par- 
sonages, $500;  given  to  Missionary  Society,  Bible 
Society,  Sunday  School  Union,  and  other  benevolent 
societies,  $800;  given  to  universities,  colleges,  etc., 
for  education,  $700;  given  to  superannuated  preach- 
ers, their  widows  and  orphans,  and  other  necessitous 
cases,  $300 ;  given  unfortunate  persons,  burned  out, 
$500.  Total,  $2,300. 

I  have  traveled  eleven  circuits,  and  twelve  districts ; 
have  received  into  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
on  probation  and  by  letter,  10,000 ;  have  baptized, 
of  children,  8,000 ;  of  adults,  4,000.  I  have  preached 
the  funerals  of  500;  and  now,  after  all  I  have  done  or 
can  do,  and  although  I  know  well  what  a  Methodist 
preacher's  suffering  life  is,  and  have  known  what  it 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  523 

is  to  suffer  hunger  and  poverty,  and  also  what  it  is, 
in  some  small  sense,  to  abound,  I  feel  that  I  have 
been  a  very  unprofitable  servant. 

For  fifty-three  years,  whenever  appointed  to  a  cir- 
cuit or  district,  I  formed  a  plan,  and  named  every 
place  where  and  when  I  preached ;  and  also  the  text 
of  Scripture  from  which  I  preached ;  the  number  of 
conversions,  of  baptisms,  and  the  number  that  joined 
the  Church.  From  these  old  plans,  though  there  are 
some  imperfections,  yet  I  can  come  very  near  stating 
the  number  of  times  that  I  have  tried  to  preach.  For 
twenty  years  of  my  early  ministry,  I  often  preached 
twice  a  day,  and  sometimes  three  times.  We  seldom 
ever  had,  in  those  days,  more  than  one  rest  day  in  a 
week ;  so  that  I  feel  very  safe  in  saying  that  I  preached 
four  hundred  times  a  year.  This  would  make,  in 
twenty  years,  eight  thousand  sermons.  For  the  last 
thirty-three  years,  I  think  I  am  safe  in  saying  I  have 
averaged  four  sermons  a  week,  or  at  least  two  hun- 
dred sermons  a  year,  making,  in  thirty-three  years, 
6,600.  Total,  14,600. 

I  was  converted  on  a  camp-ground,  elsewhere  de- 
scribed in  this  narrative ;  and  for  many  years  of  my 
early  ministry,  after  I  was  appointed  presiding  elder, 
lived  in  the  tented  grove  from  two  to  three  months 
in  the  year. 

I  am  sorry  to  say  that  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  of  late  years,  since  they  have  become  numerous 
and  wealthy,  have  almost  let  camp  meetings  die  out. 
I  am  very  certain  that  the  most  successful  part  of  my 
ministry  has  been  on  camp-grounds.  There  the  word 
of  God  has  reached  the  hearts  of  thousands  that 
otherwise,  in  all  probability,  never  would  have  been 
reached  by  the  ordinary  means  of  grace.  Their  prac- 
ticability and  usefulness  have  to  some  extent,  been 


524  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

tested  this  year,  1856,  in  my  district,  Pleasant  Plains, 
and  I  greatly  desire  to  see  a  revival  of  camp  meetings 
in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  before  I  go  hence 
and  am  no  more,  or  before  I  leave  the  walls  of  Zion 
Come,  my  Methodist  brethren,  you  can  well  afford  to 
spend  one  week  in  each  year,  in  each  circuit,  or 
station,  on  the  tented  field.  But  there  must  be  a 
general  rally ;  it  will  be  but  a  small  burden  if  there 
j  j  a  general  turn  out,  but  if  a  few  only  tent,  it  will  be 
burdensome,  and  will  finally  destroy  camp  meetings 
altogether. 

May  the  day  be  eternally  distant,  when  camp 
meetings,  class  meetings,  prayer  meetings,  and  love- 
feasts  shall  be  laid  aside  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church ! 

And  now  I  must  draw  this  imperfect  history  of  my 
life  to  a  close.  I  am  in  the  seventy-second  year  of 
my  natural  life.  I  have  lived  to  see  this  vast  west- 
ern wilderness  rise  and  improve,  and  become  wealthy 
without  a  parallel  in  the  history  of  the  world ;  I  have 
outlived  every  member  of  my  father's  family ;  I  have 
no  father,  no  mother,  no  brother,  no  sister  living  ;  I  have 
outlived  every  member  of  the  class  I  joined  in  1800 ; 
I  have  outlived  every  member  of  the  Western  confer- 
ence in  1804,  save  one  or  two ;  I  have  outlived  every 
member  of  the  first  General  conference  that  I  was 
elected  to,  in  Baltimore,  in  1816,  save  five  or  six ;  I  have 
outlived  all  my  early  bishops ;  I  have  outlived  every 
presiding  elder  that  I  ever  had  when  on  circuits ;  and 
1  have  outlived  hundreds  and  thousands  of  my  co- 
temporary  ministers  and  members,  as  well  as  juniors, 
and  still  linger  on  the  mortal  shores.  Though  all 
these  have  died,  they  shall  live  again,  and  by  the 
grace  of  God  I  shall  live  Avith  them  in  heaven  forever. 
Why  I  live,  God  only  knows.  I  certainly  have  toiled 


PETER    CARTWRIGHT.  525 

and  suffered  enough  to  kill  a  thousand  men,  but  1 
do  not  complain.  Thank  God  for  health,  strength, 
and  grace,  that  have  borne  me  up,  and  borne  me  on; 
thank  God  that  during  my  long  and  exposed  life  as 
a  Methodist  preacher,  I  have  never  been  overtaken 
with  any  scandalous  sin,  though  my  shortcomings  and 
imperfections  have  been  without  number  ! 

And  now,  I  ask  of  all  who  may  read  this  imperfect 
sketch  of  my  eventful  life,  while  I  linger  on  these 
mortal  shores,  to  pray  for  me,  that  my  sun  may  set 
without  a  cloud,  and  that  I  may  be  counted  worthy 
to  obtain  a  part  in  the  first  resurrection ;  and  may,  O 
may  I  meet  you  all  in  heaven !  Farewell,  till  we 
meet  at  the  judgment! 


QUESTIONS   OF  THE   HEART: 

How  Reason  Helps  Faith  to  Answer  Them. 

By  REV.  HENRY  TUCKI<E¥. 

izmo.     Cloth.     257  pages, go  cents. 

"To  the  young  it  is  offered  as  an  instructor  and  guide;  to 
the  suffering  and  bereaved,  as  a  comforter;  and  to  all  honest 
inquirers  after  the  truth,  be  they  young  or  old,  prosperous  or 
unfortunate,  as  the  effort  of  an  honest  mind  to  solve  for  them 
in  the  most  reasonable  manner  possible,  some  of  the  great 
problems  of  life  and  destiny." — Extract  from  Preface. 

"  Could  we  have  had  it  to  carry  in  our  saddle  pockets  when  we  first 
traveled  a  circuit,  thirty-four  years  ago,  it  would  have  been  to  us  an 
endeared  treasure."— Religious  Telescope. 

"  The  book  will  be  found  interesting  and  helpful  to  those  who  are 
not  looking  for  a  theological  treatise,  but  for  a  logical,  clear,  and  practi- 
cal exposition  of  fundamental  truths.  It  will  be  an  inspiration  to  some, 
enabling  them  to  give  a  reason  for  the  hope  that  is  in  them ;  it  will  be  a 
comfort  to  many,  strengthening  their  faith." — Public  Opinion. 


FOUR  CENTURIES  OF  SILENCE; 

or,  From  Malachi  to  Christ. 

By  REV.  R.  A.  REDFORD,  1,1,.  D., 

Professor  of  Systematic  Theology  and  Apologetics, 

New  College,  Condon,  etc.,  etc. 

izrno.     Cloth.     258  pages, 75  cents. 

"  The  whole  question  of  revelation  is  one  of  profound  and 
momentous  interest  in  the  present  day.  It  is  one  which  will 
never  be  firmly  and  finally  settled  on  any  other  than  an  his- 
torical basis." — Extract  from  Preface. 

The  four  centuries  which  intervened  between  the  close  of  the  Old 
Testament  canon  and  the  birth  of  Christ,  although  they  found  no  inspired 
chronicler,  are  full  of  importance.  Great,  potent  influences  were  prepar- 
ing the  way  for  the  Incarnation.  One  can  not  fully  understand  the  times 
in  whose  mold  the  Gospels  were  cast  without  some  knowledge  of  the 
human  events  which  just  precede  and  so  lead  up  to  them.  This  volume 
is  timely,  and  will  be  immensely  interesting  and  helpful  to  all  students 
of  the  Bible. 


CRANSTON  &  CURTS,    -    Cincinnati,  Chicago,  St.  Louis. 


ROCKTON.     A  Story  of  Spring-time  Recreations. 

BY  KEL  SNOW,  ESQ. 

i2tno.     Cloth.    280  pages.    90  cents. 

It  was  a  lovely  afternoon.  The  skies  were  cloudless,  the 
air  balmy,  and  the  grassy  slopes  grateful  to  the  eye  in  the 
velvety  green  of  spring.  The  season  was  unusually  early. 
Trees  and  shrubs  were  already  clothed  with  light  foliage  and 
musical  with  the  songs  of  birds. — Extract  from  Rockton. 

PRESS  NOTICES. 
From  the  Northern  Christian  Adrocate. 

Boys  will  be  delighted  as  they  pore  over  the  contents  of  this  book, 
breezy,  replete  with  innocent  fun;  and  the  amusing  experiences  herein 
recounted  may  incite  the  readers  to  combine  pleasure  and  profit  in  like 
manner. 

From  the  Mfthodist. 

A  story  of  New  England  village  life,  full  of  the  quaint  and  amusing 
characters  familiar  to  those  who  have  lived  there.  Many  valuable  lessons 
are  woven  in  its  brightness. 

THE  THREAD  OF  GOLD. 

BY  MRS.  C.  E.  WILBUR. 

i2mo.     Cloth.     172  pages.    60  cents. 

The  present  volume  is  a  temperance  story,  and  enforces  the 
need  of  total  abstinence  from  strong  drink.  The  greater 
part  of  the  crimes  and  misdemeanors  of  modern  society 
is  due  to  the  liquor-traffic.  No  home  is  secure  from  its 
curse.  .  .  .  Save  your  sons  and  daughters  from  the  blight, 
and  rescue  the  intemperate  from  such  temptations  as  the 
author  names.  Find  the  "golden  thread"  of  your  lives,  and 
selfish  ease  will  change  into  charitable  works,  and  life's  cares 
develop  into  heavenly  joys.— Extract  from  Preface. 

ANNIE  BARTON'S  JOURNAL.     The  Story  of  a  Life. 
By  the  Same  Author. 

i2tno.     Cloth.    759  pages.    60  cents. 

This  narrative  is  a  sequel  to  the  "Thread  of  Gold."  The 
two  are,  however,  independent  of  each  other,  though  a  few  of 
the  same  characters  are  introduced.  .  .  .  The  inner  self  is 
fuller  than  the  outward  act.  It  is  the  heart  which  gives 
value  to  conduct,  which  brings  a  charm  or  a  horror  to  ex- 
istence, and  which  determines  the  sum  total  of  our  gains  or 
losses. — Extract  from  Preface. 


CRANSTON  &  CURTS, 

CINCINNATI,  CHICAGO,  ST.  LOUIS. 


University  of  California 

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405  Hilgard  Avenue,  Los  Angeles,  CA  90024-1388 

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